Skip to main content

A Probabilistic Model for Predicting Software Development Effort

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 2668))

Abstract

We use the naïve Bayes model to forecast software effort. A causal model is developed from the literature, and a procedure to learn Bayesian prior and conditional probabilities is provided. Using a data set of 40 real-life software projects we test our model. Our results indicate that the probabilistic forecasting models allow managers to estimate joint probability distribution over different software effort estimates. A software project manager may use the joint probability distribution to develop a cumulative probability distribution, which in turn may help the manager estimate the uncertainty that the project effort may be greater than the estimated effort.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Baik, J., Boehm, B., and Steece, B. M.: Disaggregating and Calibrating the CASE Tool Variable in COCOMOII, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 28(11) (Nov. 2002) 1009–1022.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Banker, R. D., and Slaughter, S. A.: A Field Study of Scale Economies in Software Maintenance, Management Science, 43(12) (Dec. 1997) 1709–1725.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  3. Chulani, S., Boehm, B. and Steece, B.: Bayesian Analysis of Empirical Software Engineering Cost Models, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 25(4) (July/Aug. 1999) 573–583.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Clark, B. K.: Quantifying the Effects of Process Improvement, IEEE Software, (Nov./Dec. 2000) 65–70.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Hastings, T.E., Sajeev, A.S.M.: A Vector-Based Approach to Software Size Measurement and Effort Estimation, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 27(4) (April 2001) 337–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Mahmood, M. A., Pettingell, K. J., and Shaskevich, A.I.: Measuring productivity of software projects: A data envelopment analysis approach, Decision Sciences, 27(1) (Winter 1996) 57–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Nesi, P. and Querci, T.: Effort estimation and prediction of object-oriented systems, The Journal of Systems and Software, 42(1) (1998) 89–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Pearl, Judea: Probabilistic Reasoning in Intelligent Systems: Networks of Plausible Inference, Morgan-Kaufman (1988), San Francisco.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Pendharkar, P.C., and Subramanian, G. H.: Connectionist Models for Learning, Discovering, and Forecasting Software Effort: An Empirical Study, Journal of Computer Information Systems, 43(1) (Fall 2002) 7–14.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Subramanian, G. H., and Zarnich, G.: An Examination of Some Software Development Effort and Productivity Determinants in ICASE Tool Projects, Journal of Management Information Systems, 12(4) (Spring 1996) 143–160.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Pendharkar, P.C., Subramanian, G.H., Rodger, J.A. (2003). A Probabilistic Model for Predicting Software Development Effort. In: Kumar, V., Gavrilova, M.L., Tan, C.J.K., L’Ecuyer, P. (eds) Computational Science and Its Applications — ICCSA 2003. ICCSA 2003. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2668. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44843-8_63

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44843-8_63

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-40161-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-44843-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics