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I need some idea regarding the development time estimation of a to be developed software. Though there are formal methods in theory like COCOMO , Function point ,etc, such methods seem impractical to apply before having any work done. (I am not sure if possible?)

I have attached a sample module. Please help me in learning estimation in the practical purpose.

Scenario: Student Registration Module

  1. Check whether the student is new or already registered. 1.1. if already registered then activate the registration 1.2. If new student then, Record all the necessary data related with the new student. (certificates in different formats like pdf,docx, jpg,png)
  2. Check for late registration. If late then apply late registration fee.
  3. Time check: student registration must be done within a week of academic session start.

Also, I think the development time may differ in terms of programming language used. For eg. Java , C sharp or PHP. Please guide me with your understanding.

Thanking You.

bdur
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1 Answers1

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I would warmly suggest you to read the book "Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art" by Steve McConnell.

You'll get many useful thumb-rules from there. Many derived from COCOMO :-) E.g. the fact, that as you state the time will be different depending on programming language. It's true. some studies have found out, that the number of LOCs produced by a programmer doesn't depend on language. But the productivity of those lines does.

So some very basic rules in software-estimation:

  1. Understand the cone of insecurity
  2. Give estimate in ranges, not in single numbers
  3. Re-estimate continuously
  4. Divide the task in as many as possible smaller task, and estimate them individually.
  5. Estimate in this order: size, effort, costs/schedule
Valentin H
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