Test Size Estimation for Object Oriented Software Based on Analysis Model

Software test size estimation at the early analysis phase of software development lifecycle is crucial for predicting the associated effort and cost. This paper proposes a new method namely System Test Size Point (STSP) to estimate the system testing size of the object oriented software. The novel approach for the system test size estimation at the analysis phase is based on the Use Case Model (UCM) which adapts the Function Point Analysis (FPA) technique. The various features such as use case graph, test set, test set suite, relationships, main flow and alternate flow, are extracted from the UCM. Based on this, UCM components for estimation are derived. The FPA components are appropriately mapped to the UCM components and the complexity based on the weightage is specified to calculate the STSP. This proposed test size estimation approach has been evaluated with the object oriented software developed in our software engineering laboratory to assess its ability to predict the system test size.