Software Project Effort and Cost Estimation Techniques

The main goal of software project cost and effort estimation is to scientifically estimate the required workload and its corresponding costs in the life cycle of software system. Software cost estimation is a complex activity that requires knowledge of a number of key attributes that affect the outcomes of software projects, both individually and in concert. The most critical problem is the lot of data is needed, which is often impossible to get in needed quantities. Hence, Software cost and effort estimation has become a challenge for IT industries. In this paper, several existing methods for software project effort, cost estimation are illustrated and their aspects are discussed. Also, it describes software metrics used for software project cost estimation. This paper summarizes existing literature on software project cost estimation. The paper includes comment on the performance of the estimation models and description of research trends in software cost estimation.