The software estimation process includes estimating the size of the software product to be produced, estimating the effort required, developing preliminary project schedules, and finally, estimating overall cost of the project. It is to accurately estimate needed resources and required schedules for software development projects. Ĭost estimation is one of the most challenging tasks in project management. In other words, it tries to identify that historical project which is most similar to the project being estimated. Analogy based estimations compare the similarities between the projects whose effort is to be estimated with all the historical Some recent study is also done in the field of Analogy based Estimations.

An important task in software project management is to understand and control critical variables that influence the software effort. My research is concerned with the comparative study of all existing models using actual project data. COCOMO and FPA and I review the independent work done by various researchers who have investigated these models. Various Cost models have been examined e.g. In this study, we investigate the estimation accuracies of each model. Earlier various software cost estimation models have been suggested and studied by many researchers (Kim and Lee, Kafura and Henry, Kaur, Mittal and Parkash, Maxwell, Brian and Smith).This paper describes the comparative analysis of all the existing cost models. One basis for classification would be the complexity of manipulation of the inputs, secondly according to the function they serve and lastly according to the likelihood of repetitive use. Cost models can vary from a simple one-formula model to an extremely complex model that involves hundreds or even thousands of calculations.Ĭost models can be classified in several ways. These inputs include quantities and prices.

A key factor in selecting a cost estimation model is the accuracy of its estimates.Ī cost model is a set of mathematical relationships arranged in a systematic sequence to develop a cost methodology in which outputs, namely cost estimates, are derived from inputs.

This paper compares the most popular algorithmic models used to estimate software costs [SLIM, COCOMO, Function Points, SEER-SEM and so on). Each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Models may be classified into 2 major categories: algorithmic and non-algorithmic. I have highlighted the cost estimation models that have been proposed and used successfully. This paper provides a comparison of existing software cost estimation methods including the recent advances in the field. Large numbers of estimation models have been proposed over the last 30 years. Software cost estimation is the process of predicting the effort required to develop a software system.

Cocomo model types