|
Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art (Best Practices (Microsoft)) | 
 enlarge | Author: Steve Mcconnell
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Category: Book
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $19.00
You Save: $20.99 (52%)
New (36) Used (10) from $18.97
Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 5970
Media: Paperback
Pages: 308
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 7.3 x 1
ISBN: 0735605351
Dewey Decimal Number: 005.1
UPC: 790145053510
EAN: 9780735605350
Publication Date: March 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Excellent
| |
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Often referred to as the "black art" because of its complexity and uncertainty, software estimation is not as hard or mysterious as people think. However, the art of how to create effective cost and schedule estimates has not been very well publicized. While the average software organization can struggle with project costs that run double their original estimates, some of the more sophisticated organizations achieve results with estimation errors as low as 5-10%. These best-in-class organizations use scientific techniques that are not cost-effective, however, making them of limited use to most software development organizations. To address these issues, Software Estimation focuses on the art of software estimation and provides a proven set of procedures and heuristics that software developers, technical leads, and project managers can apply to their projects. Instead of arcane treatises and rigid modeling techniques, award-winning author Steve McConnell gives practical guidance to help organizations achieve basic estimation proficiency and lay the groundwork to continue improving project cost estimates. This book is organized from simple tips to more advanced ideas; it does not avoid the more hairy mathematical estimation approaches, but the non-mathematical reader will find plenty of useful guidelines without getting bogged down in complex formulas.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...
 Finally, an excellent source for estimation of software projects May 31, 2006
Tom Carpenter (Marysville, OH)
58 out of 61 found this review helpful
I must admit, I was very surprised to see an excellent source on software development time and cost estimation from Microsoft Press. However, when I saw that the author was Steve McConnell, the author of Code Complete (which I thought was a great book) I knew that this book would have something to offer.
His definition of the purpose of software estimation is important: "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."
From this premise, the author continues to prove that software estimation is about determining if you can control a project to bring it in reasonably close to the organization's targets. In addition to this, Mr. McConnell's arguments for overestimation being better than underestimation are rather good and have convinced me to continue using my risk time and budget items that I've been using and recommending to others.
In chapter 4, the author identifies four main sources of project estimation errors:
-Inaccurate information about the project being estimated
-Inaccurate information about the capabilities of the organization that will perform the project
-Too much chaos in the project to support accurate estimation (that is, trying to estimate a moving target)
-Inaccuracies arising from the estimation process itself
That last one presents the need for me to give a little more information. The author suggests that bias and subjectivity of the estimator cause major estimation errors in the estimation process. This is proven through exercise case studies of time estimation in training classes. The author found that the more "control knobs" (impacting factors considered when estimating the project) used in the estimation process the greater the probability of variance in the estimates. He attributes this to bias and estimator subjectivity and it makes a lot of sense.
In the end, this book will make you a better estimator and project manager and I highly recommend it.
Tom Carpenter, Author: Wireless# Certification Official Study Guide, CWSP Certification Official Study Guide, Project Management for the IT Pro, and Foundations of Effectiveness
Software Estimation as an Art July 4, 2006
Erik Gfesser (Lombard, IL United States)
20 out of 32 found this review helpful
McConnell immediately differentiates between software estimation as a science and software estimation as an art within the first pages of the introduction to this work - he explains that while software estimation research is currently focused on improving estimation techniques so that project results are achieved within +/- 5% of esimated results, the techniques of which are best included in commerical software estimation tools that are used to pursue the science of estimation for very large projects, the typical software organization struggles to avoid estimates that are incorrect by 100% or more, and Software Estimation discusses the estimation techniques comprising, although not limited to, the art of estimation that will reduce estimation error to about 25% or less, which is what the vast majority of software projects need. This book is absolutely the best software estimation text I have read to date. As Joel Spolsky mentions on the back cover of the book, the vast majority of software project managers still think that estimates are based on multiples of a gut feel. This philosophy completely ignores the vast body of research and hands-on experience of the last few decades. McConnell explains with sufficient depth all of the ways to create "ball park" estimates, and if there is one chapter of this book that you read, Chapter 4 "Where Does Estimation Error Come From?" is the one that I recommend - the explanation of the Cone of Uncertainty is so well explained that anyone can understand it. Although I have never read Code Complete by the same author, I did purchase Rapid Development several years ago - and I must say that McConnell (or at least his editors) has vastly improved his writing skills. This book is less than half the size of Rapid Development, and while I fell asleep while reading that book I was able to conduct a cursory reading of over half of Software Estimation in one evening and immediately apply some of its concepts on a work project the following day. A great modern follow-up to The Mythical Man-Month by Brooks and an excellent primer to reading SEI's Estimating Software-Intensive Systems by Stutzke on the science of estimation.
Estimation: art or science? March 15, 2006
Ivo M. M. Vasconcelos (Belo Horizonte, MG Brazil)
23 out of 45 found this review helpful
This is a great book for software project managers, or any professional directly involved with the difficult task of predicting how long will it take and how much will it cost to develop a software project based on its initial requirements/scope definition.
Steve McConnell is an essential author in regards to software development issues, and this book delivers on its subtitle: "Demystifying the Black Art", showing the main aspects involved in software estimation and how it is possible to produce reasonably accurate estimates using techniques based on things like group work, personal experience, expert judgement, past history and a lot of common sense. Chapter Four ("Where Does Estimation Error Come From"), with its description of the "Cone of Uncertainty", is a must-read for those who want to understand how good an estimate can be, and where we make the most common errors so we can avoid them.
The book doesn't delve deep into any specific technique, what makes it more useful and easier to read, since some techniques are so complex that it takes hundreds of pages to describe them well. I believe it will become another classic, like "Rapid Development" and "Code Complete"!
Another "must read" from Steve McConnell September 19, 2007
A. Vander Meulen (Boston, MA USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I've been a great fan of Mr. McConnell's work since I first read Rapid Development and the original version of Code Complete, Second Edition back in the mid 1990's - both of which are books I highly recommend for anyone leading software development projects or teams.
The subject matter here is much more focused than in most of his other work - dealing with a specific aspect of project management, rather than management of projects and the software development process as a whole; but, as with his other works, Mr. McConnell's Software Estimation is clearly written, well researched, and takes a very practical "hands-on" approach to the topic at hand. You will find it readable and packed with useful information. His conclusions and recommendations are well supported with references to the source material from which he derives them, and he does a good job of giving us a well balanced view of the relative merits, cautions and how best to utilize each of his recommendations.
The book is a fairly easy and straightforward read: my first pass through it took just a few hours, and I experienced one or more of those "aha!" moments of revelation with almost every chapter.
In Part I of the book, he presents overview of what Software Estimation is - and isn't; its value; what factors influence estimates; and also challenges the preconceptions all of us have with regards to software estimation. He often delves into some statistical examples to illustrate or prove his point, but these are easy to follow, and should not strain your brain too severely!
In Part II, Mr. McConnell describes a reasonably large number of software estimation techniques - describing how they work; the value, merits and challenges of each; and how to chose when (and why) to employ each one.
Part III was of the most value to me - focusing on "Specific Estimation Challenges" in the areas of estimating project size, effort, schedule, activity breakdowns, cost estimates, and metrics related to defects.
The final two chapters - 22 and 23 - of this book will be of immense value to you; as they focus on how to present estimates to others in ways that will be of most value in your attempt to provide a clear and balanced view of your project's costs and benefits to the organization. They also provide valuable tips on how to prepare and present yourself when facing the challenges that most of us (who spend more time with computers than people) encounter when trying to communicate with executives and nontechnical individuals.
In my opinion, this book will serve not only as an excellent introduction and guide to the discipline of Software Estimation, but is also an excellent reference work that you should keep close at hand: you will be digging into it regularly whenever you are managing a software development project!
In summary, this volume is yet another winner from Steve McConnell, and I recommend it highly for anyone in a leadership or senior role in software development. Five Stars!
Most Useful Book I've found on Software Estimation January 12, 2007
Kiwi (Mississauga, Ontario Canada)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
There's a number of books out there now on software estimation, certainly more than there were a few years ago. I've worked my way through a few of them as I found myself involved in software estimation for larger (50 person +) projects that required a little more than the seat of the pants guesstimating techniques that so many of us IT project managers use with the usual results. Doesn't matter so much on smaller projects, but on large multi-year projects inaccurate estimates can have a deterimentary effect on one's career.
The book really does demystify estimating. It does a good job in Part 1 (5 chapters) of explaining crtical estimation concepts - very important for the neophyte at more formal estimating. Part 2 (12 chapters) covers a range of "Fundamental Estimation Techniques" and does it really well. There's enough information to get you started without being overwhelming
Part 3 (Specific Estimation Challenges - 6 chapters) covers challenges you will face with your estimating and presents useful practical approaches to these. All in all, it's a very useful and practical reference book for all those involved in estimating and presented at a level that the beginner can absorb and use practically. It doesn't overwhelm with detail on any one technique, it's more an introduction to the field, but an introduction that will get you started successfully and form a basis from which you can specialize further.
Steve McConnell's a well-know author with a number of useful books published previously - "Rapid Development" and "Code Complete" in particular. He's gpt experience in the field and he writes well, the books coherent, logically structured and it won't (unlike so many technical books) put you to sleep.
|
|
|
| |
