In order to achieve efficient and effective management of software projects, it is important to estimate the size and cost of the project. Source lines of code loc, sloc, kloc, lloc projectcodemeter. Slocbased models and the function points model page 5 o f 10 estimate of the sloc for a software project written in java would undoubtedly differ from an estimate of the same. Source lines of code sloc, also known as lines of code loc, is a software metric used to measure the size of a computer program by counting the number of lines in the text of the programs source. The tool is realized on a pyramidal abstraction concept based on assumptions and constraints related to telco web applications. Commonly used by management to check the budget and office procedures for efficiency. An alternative to direct sloc estimating is to start with function points, then use a process called backfiring to convert them to sloc. Although the total sloc generated at the end of project completion is measurable, coming up with an. The single most important part of a serious software estimation methodology is periodic recalibration to actuals, which means you make your estimate, you write it down, and then, when the project is over, you compare your actual results to your estimate, and, if necessary, revise your estimating process. Jan 27, 2020 in addition to the default terminal output see examples below, sloc provides an alternative set of output formatters.
It comes from the days of fortran and assembly coding. Software development effort estimation estimation project management cost estimation in software engineering. A requirementsbased, bottomup sloc estimate and analysis. Source lines of code sloc, also known as lines of code loc, is a software metric used to measure the size of a computer program by counting the number of lines in the text of the programs source code. Source lines of code sloc or loc is a software metric used to measure the size of a software program by counting the number of lines in the text of the programs source code. The application of this concept leads to a methodology to easily estimate the effort to develop a software application, starting from its highlevel functional requirements and. This article, part 1 in a twopart series, presents an overview of approaches, techniques, models, and tools used in estimating costs, schedules, and other factors on software projects.
Software project estimation university of washington. As a whole, the software industry doesnt estimate projects well and doesnt use estimates appropriately. The number of project team members and complexity of resource management could determine which is the best project management software for your business. Software effort estimation successful project is that the system is delivered on time and. Source lines of code sloc, also known as lines of code loc, is a software metric used to. Seer for software seersem is an algorithmic project management software application designed specifically to estimate, plan and monitor the effort and resources required for any type of software development andor maintenance project. Some project management rules of thumb are cost per source line of code sloc for software projects and cost per pound for development and manufacturing projects. A requirementsbased, bottomup sloc estimate and analysis of. In addition to the default terminal output see examples below, sloc provides an alternative set of output formatters. This is the home page of sloccount, a set of tools for counting physical.
Advantages of using line of code as a unit of sizing of. Park while at the software engineering institute and others developed a framework for defining sloc values, to enable people to carefully explain and define the sloc measure used in a project. Advantages of using line of code as a unit of sizing of software. I have been managing software projects for 30 years. Labor hours are converted to person months pm of effort and divided by. The more management is focusing on lines of code, the more incentive the. Software project managemen t plan team synergy page 8 1272003 3 definitions spmp software project management plan sloc source lines of code amc automated model compiler cots commercial off the shelf adl architecture description language wbs work breakdown structure sqap software quality assurance plan. There are a couple of methods that are less formal, but that provide usable numbers. Software project cost estimates using cocomo ii model.
Spm software effort estimation linkedin slideshare. Distribution is unlimited 7 team size the size of development teams is based on measures of project effort and duration. Short for source lines of code, it is a count of the number of lines of code contained in an application or system. The funny thing here is that for the evaluation of the. Although the total sloc generated at the end of project completion is measurable, coming up with an estimation formula that would give you the breakup effort for various lifecycle stages of project execution individually would be complex. Demystifying the black art, steve mcconnell presents a table that is adapted and extended from measures for. Therefore in software project management estimation is just one part and just help out in planning.
Tutorials software project management by vinod kumarin this introduction, the main topics to be addressed will be. The cause for this can be speculated to be many things, but. Software effort estimation successful project is that the system is delivered on time and within budget and with the required quality. Emerging innovations are discussed in addition to wellestablished methods. Project code meter source lines of code article cited from wikipedia source lines of code sloc or loc is a software metric used to measure the size of a software program by counting the number of lines in the text of the programs source code. Source lines of code sloc or loc is a software metric used to measure the size of a. Disadvantages of using line of code as a unit of sizing of. Sloc is typically used to predict the amount of effort that will be required to develop a program, as well as to estimate programming productivity or maintainability once the software is. There are various tools which help developers estimate the sloc count, which is often used as a way to convey the size of a project to managers and other stakeholders. Achievable within the power of stis software development team to meet the target.
There are various tools which help developers estimate the sloc count, which is often used. Sloc is currently used by many software engineering groups based on the intuitive belief that those large systems have more faults in them than small systems 1. Software estimates is a delicate subject since ever. As was mentioned above, there are two sets of additional parameters that are used to make cocomo ii estimates more accurate. Using lines of code to compare a 10,000line project to a 100,000line project is far more useful than when. Are software projects really different from other projects. The effort for a project is reported in labor hours. Source instructions vary with coding languages, design methods and with programmers ability.
Albeit the total cost of the project in cocomo models is largely determined by total sloc count, adjustment and scaling parameters for a real project can vary project costs in hundreds of. This paper presents a new software sizing tool based on the function point methodology. For the size and cost estimation of my mse project, i will use function point analysis fpa and cocomo model to predict the development effort of the statistical analysis package. The environment, which is made up of the tools and techniques available to support efficient software development and to automate the process.
Use gui or console mode type h in command line to see options. For example, most software systems reuse code, and determining which if any reused code to include is important when reporting a measure. This article, part 1 in a twopart series, presents an overview of approaches, techniques, models, and tools used in estimating costs, schedules, and other factors on. In the past few years, the practitioners trend has been to get away from sloc and sdi, and to work based on function points. Distribution is unlimited 7 team size the size of development teams is based on measures of project. Source lines of code sloc sloc gives the size of the project by counting all the lines of source code in a project. The comparison of the software cost estimating methods. Software project estimation effective software project estimation is one of the most challenging and important activities in software development.
Additionally, complexity is often very undesirable when writing code. Project management software is software designed to track the development of projects that take weeks, months or years to complete, providing project managers and other team members a single platform. Free sloc counts physical lines of code sloc for many languages. More code means more opportunities for bugs, poor, large highsloc alrgorithms are often slow and difficult. Difficult to measure loc in the early stages of a new product. The tea m will work together to complete the project. Sloc gives a much clearer image to developers on the size of the project. We will examine the major changes which have been taking place in recent times. What changes in systems development affect software cost estimation. Dec 26, 20 estimation alone cannot guarantee you the project completion at the committed date.
Software activities and flexibilities covered by project management. Abstract source lines of code sloc is a software metric used to m easure the size of a softw are program by counting the number of lines in the text of the programs source code. An alternative to direct sloc estimating is to start with function. Information technology project management, kathy schwalbe.
The single most important part of a serious software estimation methodology is periodic recalibration to actuals, which means you make your estimate, you write it down, and then, when the project is over. Sloc based models and the function points model page 5 o f 10 estimate of the sloc for a software project written in java would undoubtedly differ from an estimate of the same software in assembly language. For more information, refer to barry boehms software engineering and project management ieee press, 1987. Demystifying the black art, steve mcconnell presents a table that is adapted and extended from measures for excellence. Sloc is typically used to predict the amount of effort that will be required to develop a program, as well as to estimate programming productivity or effort once the. Pmi definition a project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service. Cost estimation in order to achieve efficient and effective management of software projects, it is important to estimate the size and cost of the project. Using sloc to estimate software costs, schedules poor cost and schedule estimates ruin projects more than technical, political or development team problems. Sign up for your own profile on github, the best place to host code, manage projects, and build software alongside 40 million developers. The sloc metric is obviously associated with the system. There are various tools which help developers estimate the sloc count, which is often used as a way to convey the size of a project to managers and other.
We will examine the major changes which have been taking place in recent. Five questions a project manager should ask about every. The intelligence behind successful software management for line of code per staffmonth for different kinds of software. Software engineering project size estimation techniques. Disadvantages of using line of code as a unit of sizing of software. Slocbased models and the function points model page 5 o f 10 estimate of the sloc for a software project written in java would undoubtedly differ from an estimate of the same software in assembly language.
Measuring software 4 dummies project management institute. It is a general identifier taken by adding up the number of lines of code used to write a program. The other concern is to relate the sloc count to the lifecycle stages of software project execution. Various measures are used in project size estimation. Measurable satisfaction of the objective can be objectively defined. Using topdown estimating method, an overall cost estimation for the project. Proper project planning and control is not possible. Mathematical models a mathematical model is an abstract model that uses mathematical language to describe a system. May 11, 2007 using sloc to estimate software costs, schedules poor cost and schedule estimates ruin projects more than technical, political or development team problems. Topdown estimating method is also called macro model. It permits comparison of size and productivity metrics between. Discuss projects characteristics and its size categories. Seer for software seersem is an algorithmic project management software application designed specifically to estimate, plan and monitor the effort and resources required for any type of software. Using topdown estimating method, an overall cost estimation for the project is derived from the global properties of the software project, and then the project is partitioned into various lowlevel components.
It is used to measure effort both before as an estimate and after as an actual value. I use sloc count all the time, to help understand mature systems. Seer, which comes from the noun, referring to one having the ability to foresee the future, relies on. Part 2 provides advice on what methods to apply in specific circumstances. Estimation of the size of software is an essential part of software project management. Kepm also provides traditional locsloc metrics including halstead size. Evolution of software economics lets learn new things. Source instructions vary with coding languages, design methods and with. It helps the project manager to further predict the effort and time which will be needed to build the project. It permits comparison of size and productivity metrics between diverse development groups. Document management another capability common to almost all solutions, this feature allows users to store documents in a central location, share them with the relevant parties, track changes. Reliable software on time, within budget, industrial strength software, and five core metrics. One need project control and good project management skills to complete the project according to the estimate.
A software project is the complete procedure of software development from requirement gathering to testing and maintenance, carried out according to the execution methodologies, in a specified period of time to achieve intended software product. Reliable software on time, within budget, industrial strength. The capabilities of software engineering personnel, and particularly their experience with the computer science issues and the applications domain issues of the project. A software project is the complete procedure of software development from requirement gathering to testing and maintenance, carried out according to the execution. There is a strong tendency for professionals to display. Distribution in many software metrics is typically skewed. Software project managemen t plan team synergy page 5 1272003 1. The phrase lines of code loc is a metric generally used to evaluate a software program or codebase according to its size. Proper project planning and control is not possible without a sound and reliable estimate. But if you can determine the source lines of code sloc in an application, you can better gauge the amount of time and effort needed to complete the project. I have never found it useful to even glance at sloc count until a project is near version 1. Loc is used in various ways to assess a project, and there is a debate on how effective this measurement is.