Cost estimation in software engineering is typically concerned with the financial spend on the effort to develop and test the software, this can also include requirements review, maintenance, training, managing and buying extra equipment, servers and software. Many methods have been developed for estimating software costs for a given project.
Methods
Methods for estimation in software engineering include these principles:
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Analysis effort method
The analysis effort method is a method for estimating the duration of software engineering projects.
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Parametric Estimating
Estimation theory is a branch of statistics that deals with estimating the values of parameters based on measured empirical data that has a random component. The parameters describe an underlying physical setting in such a way that their valu ...
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The Planning Game (from
Extreme Programming
Extreme programming (XP) is a software development methodology intended to improve software quality and responsiveness to changing customer requirements. As a type of agile software development,"Human Centred Technology Workshop 2006 ", 2006, P ...
)
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ITK method, also known as Method CETIN
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Proxy-based estimating (PROBE) (from the
Personal Software Process)
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Program Evaluation and Review Technique
The program evaluation and review technique (PERT) is a statistical tool used in project management, which was designed to analyze and represent the tasks involved in completing a given project.
First developed by the United States Navy in ...
(PERT)
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Putnam_model The Putnam model is an empirical software effort estimation model.
The original paper by Lawrence H. Putnam published in 1978 is seen as pioneering work in the field of software process modelling.
As a group, empirical models work by collecting so ...
, also known as SLIM
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PRICE SystemsUnison Cost Engineering formerly known as PRICE Systems was founded in 1975 as a business within the RCA Corporation. It is generally acknowledged as the earliest developer of parametric cost estimation software.
PRICE Systems’ cost estimating s ...
Founders of Commercial Parametric models that estimates the scope, cost, effort and schedule for software projects.
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SEER-SEM
SEER for Software (SEER-SEM) is a project management application used to estimate resources required for software development.
History
1966 System Development Corporation Model based on regressions.
1980 Don Reifer and Dan Galorath paper whic ...
Parametric Estimation of Effort, Schedule, Cost, Risk. Minimum time and staffing concepts based on
Brooks's law
Brooks' law is an observation about software project management according to which adding manpower to software project that is behind schedule delays it even longer.Frederick P. Brooks, Jr. '' The Mythical Man-Month''. 1995 975 Addison-Wesley. It ...
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The Use Case Points method (UCP)
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Weighted Micro Function Points Weighted Micro Function Points (WMFP) is a modern software sizing algorithm which is a successor to solid ancestor scientific methods as COCOMO, COSYSMO, maintainability index, cyclomatic complexity, function points, and Halstead complexity. It ...
(WMFP)
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Wideband Delphi
Most cost software development estimation techniques involve estimating or measuring software size first and then applying some knowledge of historical of cost per unit of size. Software size is typically sized in
SLOC,
Function Point or
Agile story points.
See also
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Software development effort estimation In software development, effort estimation is the process of predicting the most realistic amount of effort (expressed in terms of person-hours or money) required to develop or maintain software based on incomplete, uncertain and noisy input. Effort ...
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Software metric
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Project management
Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. T ...
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Cost overrun
A cost overrun, also known as a cost increase or budget overrun, involves unexpected incurred costs. When these costs are in excess of budgeted amounts due to a value engineering underestimation of the actual cost during budgeting, they are known ...
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Risk
In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environm ...
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Comparison of development estimation software In software development, effort estimation is the process of predicting the most realistic amount of effort (expressed in terms of person-hours or money) required to develop or maintain software based on incomplete, uncertain and noisy input. Effort ...
External links
Software Estimation chapterfrom O'Reilly, ''Applied Software Project Management''
Estimating With Use Case Pointsfrom ''Methods & Tools''
Definition of Use Case Points method (UCP)* Roy K. Clemmons
Project Estimation With Use Case PointsEstimating techniques throughout the SDLC
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