ABSTRACT
Is it mandatory to carry out software functional size estimation? If I am asked, it would be difficult for me to answer affirmatively without any hesitation. It definitely is advantageous to carry out software functional size estimation but it certainly is not mandatory to do so. However, if I were asked if it is mandatory to carry out software development effort estimation, I would neither have hesitation nor lose a minute to answer in a resounding “Yes!” Estimating software functional size would allow us to form an idea about the effort, cost, and duration it takes to develop the specified software product, as well as derive the productivity of software development activity, which in turn facilitates benchmarking the organization with other similar organizations or the project with other projects in the same organization. Effort estimation facilitates estimation of the resources (namely, human resources, equipment resources, monetary resources, and time resources) required to execute the project successfully. This chapter discusses the methodologies for arriving at the effort required for development of a software product. This chapter also discusses briefly the concept of software productivity to aid in arriving at software development effort from software functional size.
