The Impact of Details in the Class Diagram on Software Size Estimation (original) (raw)

An Extended Function Point Approach for Size Estimation of Object-Oriented Software

Early and accurate estimation of software size plays a crucial role in facilitating effort and cost estimation of software systems. One of the widely used methodologies for software size estimation is Function Point Analysis (FPA). Several approaches which adapt this methodology to Object Oriented (OO) Software have been proposed in the literature. However, these approaches lack clarity in providing precise directives for the identification of FPA components. Further, when a particular class is involved in multiple interactions such as aggregation, association and inheritance, its complexity calculation is ambiguous. In order to address these issues, this paper proposes a new and enhanced approach for OO software size estimation by providing rules that better guide the practitioners. This paper discusses a sample case study describing the applicability of the proposed approach. The developmental size predicted by applying the proposed approach for a set of sample projects correlates well with the size prediction obtained through the existing approaches. Thus, the proposed approach provides simple and unambiguous guidelines for the identification of FPA components as well as for the calculation of complexity due to each one of those components, without adversely affecting the accuracy of software size estimation.

Automated software size estimation based on function points using UML models

Information and Software Technology, 2005

A systematic approach to software size estimation is important for accurate project planning. In this paper, we will propose the unified mapping of UML models into function points. The mapping is formally described to enable the automation of the counting procedure. Three estimation levels are defined that correspond to the different abstraction levels of the software system. The level of abstraction influences an estimate's accuracy. Our research, based on a small data set, proved that accuracy increases with each subsequent abstraction level. Changes to the FPA complexity tables for transactional functions will also be proposed in order to better quantify the characteristics of object-oriented software.

A novel variant of function point analysis for accurate software size estimation

Software cost estimation is the one of the most desired capability in software development. It helps customer to make investment but also helps to project manager to making appropriate plans for development. It is recognized that current estimation techniques does not cover estimation for expert user programming. We have proposed a new general system characteristic "Expert user Programming". Expert user programming also affects the size of a software. By adding it in the list of general System characteristics, we have created a provision for taking expert user facilities into account, while estimating the size of a project. After adding this General System Characteristic-Size, Time, effort will be increased. Hence to estimate these things, We have used this new GSC for expert user programming. It will help to software developers to create information systems which can be helpful for technically inexperienced users. This paper has include Expert User Programming as new General System Characteristic which will give accurate result of function Point Analysis.

Class Point: An Approach for the Size Estimation of Object-Oriented Systems

IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 2005

In this paper, we present an FP-like approach, named class point, which was conceived to estimate the size of object-oriented products. In particular, two measures are proposed, which are theoretically validated showing that they satisfy well-known properties necessary for size measures. An initial, empirical validation is also performed, meant to assess the usefulness and effectiveness of the proposed measures to predict the development effort of object-oriented systems. Moreover, a comparative analysis is carried out, taking into account several other size measures.

Size Estimation at Design Stages of System Development

International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science, 2017

Class Point approach has been proposed to estimate software size of Object-Oriented Systems, systems that involve classes, encapsulation, inheritance and message passing. Another similar approach called Class Method Points has also been proposed in the literature to estimate the size of Object-Oriented software systems. We demonstrate estimation of the effort and size of OLAP system using Class Point approach and Class Method Points approach in the early stages of their development life cycle.

Software Size Estimation Using Function Point Analysis – A Case Study for a Mobile Application

7. Mühendislik ve Teknoloji Sempozyumu (MTS7), 2014

A good planning is essential for a software project to be successful, and a good estimation of the size of the software to be developed is critical for a good planning. There are many methods used for size estimation of software projects. One of the most widely known and used methods is the Function Point Analysis (FPA). In this study, size of a mobile software project was estimated using FPA method. The estimate was compared to the actual size of the project after development, and results were presented.

Software size estimation in the early stages of development

This paper presents a pilot study that raised the estimate of functional size in the very early stages of software development. The goal is to find a relationship between some measures of artifacts produced in the Requirements Elicitation process such as the Language Extended Lexicon (LEL) and Function Points (FP) of the scenarios. From a set of case studies the respective LELs were measured and the FP of the scenarios were calculated. The values obtained were related using different regression models. The models were object of a rigorous statistical analysis to identify the one that best represents the experimental data based on the values of their statistics. Finally, the model was tested on data collected from three applications that are implemented.

Function Point Size Estimation for Object Oriented Software Based on Use Case Model

Precise size estimation earlier in the software development life cycle has always been a challenge for the software industry. In the context of object oriented software, Use Case Model (UCM) is widely used to capture the functionality addressed in the software. Existing size estimation techniques such as use case points and use case size points do not adhere to any standard. Consequently, lots of variations are possible, leading to inaccurate size estimation. On the other hand, Function Point Analysis (FPA) has been standardized. However, the current estimation approaches based on FPA employ object modeling that happens later in the software development life cycle rather than the UCM. In order to gain the advantages of FPA as well as UCM, this paper proposes a new approach for size estimation of object oriented software. This approach is based on the UCM by adapting it to FPA. Mapping rules are proposed for proper identification and classification of various components from UCM to FPA. Estimation results obtained using the proposed approach are compared with those using finer granular level object model which adapts FPA at design phase. The close agreement between these two results indicates that the proposed approach is suitable for accurate software size estimation earlier in the software development life cycle.

Analysis of the gap between initial estimated size and final (True) size of implemented software

CEUR-WS, 2018

In this paper, we investigate the gap between the final true functional size of a piece of software at project closure and the functional size estimated much earlier in the development life cycle when the initial set of requirements is incomplete and often ambiguous. The different components and dimensions of this gap are identified and an approach is proposed to address them. The purpose of this approach is to improve early functional size estimation and, in turn, improve effort estimation. For the purposes of this paper, the ISO 19761 COSMIC standard on functional size measurement is taken as reference for discussion, while the majority of concepts presented are generic to most other similar ISO standards.

A Validation of the Component-Based Method for Software Size Estimation

IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 2000

AbstractÐEstimation of software size is a crucial activity among the tasks of software management. Work planning and subsequent estimations of the effort required are made based on the estimate of the size of the software product. Software size can be measured in several ways: Lines of code (LOC) is a common measure and is usually one of the independent variables in equations for estimating effort. There are several methods for estimating the final LOC count of a software system in the early stages. In this article, we report the results of the validation of the component-based method (initially proposed by Verner and Tate) for software sizing. This was done through the analysis of 46 projects involving more than 100,000 LOC of a fourth-generation language. We present several conclusions concerning the predictive capabilities of the method. We observed that the component-based method behaves reasonably, although not as well as expected for ªglobalº methods such as Mark II function points for software size prediction. The main factor observed that affects the performance is the type of component.