ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a method for estimating a software development effort in the early phases of a large software-intensive project. For each feature of the project to be estimated, a “feature team” generates a detailed feature definition that is used in what the
Taff, Borchering, and Hudgins (1991) term an “estimeeting.” Using this process it is possible to build in software quality, by design, in the early stages of development and not added on later in a series of fixes to problems uncovered in testing. Building in quality requires “front loading” the development process, yielding better designs and fewer errors that are more easily and cleanly isolated and repaired.
