Neural Networks-Based Software Development Effort Estimation: A Systematic Literature Review

Software development effort estimation (SDEE) is a key task in managing software projects. Among the existing SDEE models, artificial neural networks (ANN) have garnered considerable attention from the software engineering community because of their ability to learn from previous data and yield acceptable estimates. However, to the best of the authors' knowledge, no systematic literature review (SLR) has been carried out with focus on the use of ANNs in SDEE. This work aims to analyze ANN-based SDEE studies from five view-points: estimation accuracy, accuracy comparison, estimation context, impact of combining ANN-based SDEE models with other techniques, and ANNs parameters. To find relevant ANN-based SDEE studies, we carried out an automated search using four electronic databases. The quality of the relevant papers was assessed to determine the set of papers to include in our review. We identified 65 papers published in the period 1993–2023 with acceptable quality score. The results of our systematic review revealed that ANN-based SDEE models perform better than 11 machine learning (ML) and non-ML SDEE models. Further, the estimation accuracy is improved when neural networks are used in combination with other techniques such as fuzzy clustering techniques. This study found that the use of ANN models in SDEE is promising to get accurate estimates. However, the application of ANN models in industry is still limited. Therefore, it is recommended that practitioners cooperate with researchers to encourage and facilitate the application of ANN models in industry. © 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.