Are There Limits to Software Estimation?

Charles Connell submitted this analysis on software estimation, a topic which keeps coming up because it affects so many many programmers. Read this post about J.P. Lewis's earlier piece as well, if you'd like more background information.

Comments

Here's the formula I use...

[mrroot]

I figure out how much time it will take me to just sit down and do it without any interruptions.

Then I multiply that by the number of DBA's I have to go through to have a table get created for me divided by two.

Then I add to that the 10 times the number of project branches I need to request the PVCS administrator to create.

Then I count up the number of consultants sitting within 50 feet of my desk and multiply by that number times 20.

Then I multiply that number by the number of status reports I have to submit per week.

Finally, I add to that the number of games of foosball I play per day on average * 10.

That number is the final number of days it will take to complete the project.

Re:Unless it's a simple project...

[Mr. Fred Smoothie]

And at level 5 they don't even need a testing organization to release mission critical applications.

Maybe that explains their shift toward missions that don't cost as much and fail more often.