article thumbnail

Basis of Estimating Software Development

Herding Cats

The estimating of software development is both straightforward and complex. When it is suggested that estimating is hard, of no value, and unnecessary, always ask what principle is used to support that claim? Software Sizing and Estimating: Mk II FPA , Charles Symons, John Wiley & Sons, 1991.

article thumbnail

Reading List for the Cone of Uncertainty

Herding Cats

The primary purpose of software estimation is not to predict a project’s outcome; it is to determine whether a project’s targets are realistic enough to allow the project to be controlled to meet them ? As more details get developed, the Cone converges to the actual value. Steve McConnell.

2012 48
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Resources for Cone of Uncertainty

Herding Cats

Seems there is still some confusion (intentional or accidental) about the Cone of Uncertainty and its purpose and its use in software development. Some feel that the cone does not provide any value for the work they do and does not match the reducing uncertainty in their estimates. This letter states.

2007 34
article thumbnail

Deconstructing The Cone of Uncertainty

Herding Cats

The paper on the Cone of Uncertainty is used by many in the No Estimates community as an example of why estimates are of little use. In this paper, there is data that does not follow the Cone of Uncertainty, in that the uncertainty of the estimates does not reduce as the project proceeds. Then there is some analysis.

2007 42
article thumbnail

Cone of Uncertainty - Revisited

Herding Cats

“Coping with the Cone of Uncertainty: An Empirical Study of the SAIV Process Model,” Da Yang, Barry Boehm, Ye Yang, Qing Wang, and Mingshu Li, ICSP 2007 , LNCS 4470, pp. 37–48, 2007. Shrinking the Cone of Uncertainty with Continuous Assessment for Software Team Dynamics in Design and Development,” Pongtip Aroonvatanaporn,”Ph.D.

2012 29
article thumbnail

Risk Management Resources

Herding Cats

requires making estimates) ? Project risk management: lessons learned from software development environment,” Young Hoon Kwak and Jim Stoddard,” Technovation , 24(11), pp. Estimation of Long?Term Project Risk Management: Lessons Learned from Software Development Environment,” Y. reducible and irreducible ?

article thumbnail

A Compendium of Risk Management Resources

Herding Cats

This blog page is dedicated to the resources used to manage the risk encountered on software-intensive systems using traditional and agile development methods. Let's start with a critical understanding of the purpose of managing risk on software development projects. requires making estimates) ? Estimation of Long?Term