Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art

Description

In this highly anticipated book, acclaimed author Steve McConnell unravels the mystery to successful software estimation-distilling academic information and real-world experience into a practical guide for working software professionals. Instead of arcane treatises and rigid modeling techniques, this guide highlights a proven set of procedures, understandable formulas, and heuristics that individuals and development teams can apply to their projects to help achieve estimation proficiency.

About the Author

Steve McConnell is recognized as one of the premier authors and voices in the development community. He is Chief Software Engineer of Construx Software and was the lead developer of Construx Estimate and of SPC Estimate Professional

Table of Contents

Critical Estimation Concepts

· What Is an "Estimate"?

· How Good an Estimator Are You?

· Value of Accurate Estimates

· Where Does Estimation Error Come From?

· Estimate Influences

Fundamental Estimation Techniques

· Introduction to Estimation Techniques

· Count, Compute, Judge

· Calibration and Historical Data

· Individual Expert Judgment

· Decomposition and Recomposition

· Estimation by Analogy

· Proxy-Based Estimates

· Expert Judgment in Groups

· Software Estimation Tools

· Use of Multiple Approaches

· Flow of Software Estimates on a Well-Estimated Project

· Standardized Estimation Procedures

Specific Estimation Challenges

· Special Issues in Estimating Size

· Special Issues in Estimating Effort

· Special Issues in Estimating Schedule

· Estimating Planning Parameters

· Estimate Presentation Styles

· Politics, Negotiation, and Problem Solving

Appendix A Estimate Sanity Check

Scoring