Cost estimation in software engineering

The ability to accurately estimate the time and/or cost taken for a project to come in to its successful conclusion is a serious problem for software engineers. The use of a repeatable, clearly defined and well understood software development process has, in recent years, shown itself to be the most effective method of gaining useful historical data that can be used for statistical estimation. In particular, the act of sampling more frequently, coupled with the loosening of constraints between parts of a project, has allowed more accurate estimation and more rapid development times.

Methods

Popular methods for estimation in software engineering include:

• Analysis Effort method
• COCOMO
• COSYSMO
• Evidence-based Scheduling Refinement of typical agile estimating techniques using minimal measurement and total time accounting.
• Function Point Analysis
• Parametric Estimating
• PRICE Systems Founders of Commercial Parametric models that estimates the scope, cost, effort and schedule for software projects.
• Proxy-based estimating (PROBE) (from the Personal Software Process)
• Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
• SEER-SEM Parametric Estimation of Effort, Schedule, Cost, Risk. Mimimum time and staffing concepts based on Brooks's law
• SLIM
• The Planning Game (from Extreme Programming)
• Weighted Micro Function Points (WMFP)
• Wideband Delphi
• The Use Case Points method (UCP)
• CETIN

See also

• Software development effort estimation
• Software metric
• Project management
• Cost overrun
• Risk
• Comparison of development estimation software

External links

• Software Estimation chapter from Applied Software Project Management (O'Reilly)
• Article Estimating With Use Case Points from Methods & Tools
• The Dynamics of Software Projects Estimation
• Resources on Software Estimation from Steve McConnell
• Links on tools and techniques of software estimation
• Article Estimating techniques throughout the SDLC
• Top Down, BIM and Parametric Estimating Software
• Definition of Use Case Points method (UCP)