Attempt to build models that precisely represent the relationship between effort and one or more project characteristics via the use of algorithmic models. Such models assume that application size is the main contributor to effort thus in any algorithmic model the central project characteristic used is usually taken to be some notion of application size (e.g., the number of lines of source code, function points, number of Web pages, number of new images). The relationship between size and effort is often translated as an equation.
Published in Chapter:
Web Development Effort Estimation: An Empirical Analysis
Emilia Mendes (The University of Auckland, New Zealand) and Silvia Abrahão (Valencia University of Technology, Spain)
Copyright: © 2008
|Pages: 31
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-847-5.ch002
Abstract
Effort models and effort estimates help project managers allocate resources, control costs and schedule, and improve current practices, leading to projects that are finished on time and within budget. In the context of Web development and maintenance, these issues are also crucial, and very challenging, given that Web projects have short schedules and a highly fluidic scope. Therefore, the objective of this chapter is to introduce the concepts related to Web effort estimation and effort estimation techniques. In addition, this chapter also details and compares, by means of a case study, three effort estimation techniques, chosen for this chapter because they have been to date the ones mostly used for Web effort estimation: Multivariate regression, Case-based reasoning, and Classification and Regression Trees. The case study uses data on industrial Web projects from Spanish Web companies.