Common Software Measurement International Consortium Research Articles

Software Project Duration Estimation Based on COSMIC Method Applied to Data Flow Diagram

Business process models are created before the detailed software design, during requirements phase of software development. Even disciplined agile methodology includes business process modeling, before development iterations start. Their use in an estimation of software development duration could be beneficial, because they provide sufficient elements for mapping with software design and development planning. In this paper we propose the method for software project duration estimation based on Common Software Measurement International Consortium (COSMIC) method, applied to data flow diagram. This method is based on data flow diagram analysis and extraction of primitive business procceses,data flows and data stores. The paper contributes with the approach to enhance COSMIC method with calculation of software development process duration based on both data movement-related and data-manipulation-related software functional sub-processes. Data movement-related functional sub-processes are derived from Create, Read, Update, Delete (CRUD) operations assigned to data flows. Calculation of data manipulation-related functional sub-processes duration is derived from number of business processes. The proposed metric enables calculating effort (expressed in Cosmic Functional Points units) and duration (presented with Man/Hours units). An example of the approach application and an empirical study demonstrates the applicability of the approach.

COSMIC FP method in software development estimation using artificial neural networks based on orthogonal arrays

This paper proposes a new, improved COmmon Software Measurement International Consortium function point (COSMIC FP) method that uses Artificial Neural Network (ANN) architectures based on Taguchi’s Orthogonal Array to estimate software development effort. The minimum magnitude relative error (MRE) to evaluate these architectures considering the cost effect function, the type of data used in the training, testing, and validation of the proposed models, was used. Applying the fuzzification and clustering method to obtain seven different datasets, we would like to achieve excellent reliability and accuracy of the obtained results. Besides examining the influence of four input values, we aim to reduce the risks of potential errors, increase the coverage of a wide range of different projects and increase the efficiency and success of completing many various software projects. The main contributions of our work are as follows: the influence of four input values of the COSMIC FP method on the change of mean (MRE), development of two simple ANN architectures, the attainment of a small number of performed iterations in software effort estimation (less than 7), reduced software effort estimation time, the use of different values of the International Software Benchmarking Standards Group and other datasets used in the experiment.

Software Size Estimation Using Activity Point

Software size is widely recognized as an important parameter for effort and cost estimation. Currently there are many methods for measuring software size including Source Line of Code (SLOC), Function Points (FP), Netherlands Software Metrics Users Association (NESMA), Common Software Measurement International Consortium (COSMIC), and Use Case Points (UCP). SLOC is physically counted after the software is developed. Other methods compute size from functional, technical, and/or environment aspects at early phase of software development. In this research, activity point approach is proposed to be another software size estimation method. Activity point is computed using activity diagram and adjusted with technical complexity factors (TCF), environment complexity factors (ECF), and people risk factors (PRF). An evaluation of the approach is present.

Estimation Models for Software Functional Test Effort

The International Software Benchmarking and Standards Group (ISBSG) data-base was used to build estimation models for estimating software functional test effort. The analysis of the data revealed three test productivity patterns representing economies or diseconomies of scale and these patterns served as a basis for investigating the characteristics of the corresponding projects. Three groups of projects related to the three different productivity patterns, characterized by domain, team size, elapsed time and rigor of verification and validation carried out during development, were found to be statistically significant. Within each project group, the variations in test effort can be explained, in addition to functional size, by 1) the processes executed during development, and 2) the processes adopted for testing. Portfolios of estimation models were built using combinations of the three independent variables. Performance of the estimation models built using the function point method innovated by the Common Software Measurement International Consortium (COSMIC) known as COSMIC Function Points, and the one advocated by the International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) known as IFPUG Function Points, were compared to evaluate the impact of these respective sizing methods on test effort estimation.

A Detailed Analysis of Software Cost Estimation Using Cosmic-FFP

Software cost estimation is one of the most challenging tasks in software engineering. For the estimation, Function points are useful in the business application software domain and problematic in the real-time software domain. Full Function Points (FFP) are useful for functionality-based estimation, specifically for real-time and embedded software. Functional size measurement method that has user view of functional requirements developed by Common Software Measurement International Consortium (COSMIC) called COSMIC-FFP. By using COSMIC-FFP model, an early prediction of the functional complexity of the software throughout the software development life cycle within given budget constraints, reliability can be done. In this paper, a detailed analysis with process flow of COSMIC-FFP model has been discussed.

Functional Size Estimation Technologies for Software Maintenance

Estimating functional software size is the key input for building software models. Unlike direct effort estimates, software size estimation gives a measure of the software product itself and can be used to build objective estimation models for predicting project effort and duration, estimating defects for quality and service cost predictions, and obtaining software development productivity ratios. Although maintenance dominates software projects, the underlying technologies for estimation have been rather poorly described to date. Here, the authors examine estimation technologies based on the COSMIC (Common Software Measurement International Consortium) method as it's applied to maintenance projects.

Analysis of Software Development and Enhancement Projects Work Effort per Unit Based on the COSMIC Method with Regard to Technological Factors—Case Study

This paper aims to present a case study that consists in the analysis of work effort per unit of software systems Development and Enhancement Projects (D&EP) depending on technological factors. That analysis was commissioned by one of the largest public institutions in Poland. This is the COSMIC (Common Software Measurement International Consortium) function points method that is chosen by this institution as a point of reference for size of software systems developed/enhanced for supporting its functions and therefore this method is the base for the analysis of D&EP work effort per unit with regard to technological factors.

In Search of a General IFPUG-Cosmic Conversion Method

International Function Point User Group Function Points (IFPUG - FP) is the earliest function size estimation method; however, with the introduction of a more scientific method like the COmmon Software Measurement International Consortium Full Function Points (COSMIC - FFP) which has a wider applicability than the IFPUG, and both methods using the same measuring unit and principle, the continued relevancy of the IFPUG is called to question. In order to save organizations from losing all their investment because of migrating to using COSMIC, researchers have been trying to explore the possibility of converting the output of one method to the other. Several formulas have been proposed but none that can be generally applied yet. This paper reviews some of the popular conversion formulas that have been suggested so far, then, it used each formula to convert the IFPUG values presented in the different studies to equivalent COSMIC values. The converted COSMIC values are compared to direct measurement values to see a trend or how generalized, consistent and reliable the formulas have a tendency to or could be. It also collated IFPUG and COSMIC values of all the applications used in the different experiments plus three new ones and generated a new formula – a formula borne out of heterogeneous data. The result varied widely and nothing conclusive can be said, though, two of the formulas gave closer estimation range than others. Also, the new formula generated from the fifty eight applications gave improved results over others.

The Economic Importance of Business Software Systems Functional Size Measurement

Execution of Business Software Systems (BSS) Development and Enhancement Projects (D&EP) encounters many problems, leading to the high scale of their failure, which then is reflected in considerable financial losses. One of the fundamental causes of such projects’ low effectiveness are improperly derived estimates for their costs and time. In their case, the budget and time frame are determined by the effort being spent on activities needed to deliver product that would be meeting client’s requirements. Meanwhile, objective and reliable effort estimation still appears to be a great challenge, what in the author’s opinion is caused by effort estimation based on resources, while such planning activity should base on the required software product size, which determines work effort. Estimation of BSS size requires using of the suitable software size measure, which has been sought for several decades now. What’s more, it is worth using the capabilities offered by such measure for the BSS D&EP assessment from the perspective being critical to a client, that is from functional perspective. Thus this paper analyses capabilities, being significant from the economic point of view, of taking advantage of suitable approach to the BSS size measurement, with particular consideration given to the two most popular functional size measurement methods normalized by ISO/IEC, namely International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) method and Common Software Measurement International Consortium (COSMIC) method. This should contribute to the better understanding of the importance of this issue, still being underestimated by business managers – as in the subject literature this issue is usually considered from the technical point of view. Meanwhile, suitable BSS size measurement should constitute the basis for rational activities and business decisions not only for providers, but also for clients needs.

On the conversion between IFPUG and COSMIC software functional size units: A theoretical and empirical study

Since 1984 the International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) has produced and maintained a set of standards and technical documents about a functional size measurement methods, known as IFPUG, based on Albrecht function points. On the other hand, in 1998, the Common Software Measurement International Consortium (COSMIC) proposed an improved measurement method known as full function points (FFP). Both the IFPUG and the COSMIC methods both measure functional size of software, but produce different results. In this paper, we propose a model to convert functional size measures obtained with the IFPUG method to the corresponding COSMIC measures. We also present the validation of the model using 33 software projects measured with both methods. This approach may be beneficial to companies using both methods or migrating to COSMIC such that past data in IFPUG can be considered for future estimates using COSMIC and as a validation procedure.

Improved standard FPA method—resolving problems with upper boundaries in the rating complexity process

The standard Function Point Analysis (FPA) method maps complexity to an ordinal scale such that function types (functions) labelled “high” complexity may have a very different underlying complexity. This deficiency is the subject of this article. An improved FPA method is presented that breaks down a very complex function into an equivalent set of functions with normal complexity. The improved FPA method is not a new method, it is an improvement of the standard FPA method. In the process of defining an improved FPA method, a model was built, which helped us find the connection between the standard FPA method and the Common Software Measurement International Consortium—Full Function Point (COSMIC-FFP) and Mark II Function Point Analysis (MKII FPA) methods. These methods were used to define the improved FPA method algorithm, because they show a bigger functional size for very complex functions. In the end, an evaluation of the improved FPA method was made with the results of the ISBSG Repository Data Disk.