A Specific Effort Estimation Method Using Function Point

Software estimation provides an important tool for project planning; whose quality and accuracy greatly affect the success of a project. Despite a plethora of estimation models, practitioners experience difficulties in applying them because most models attempt to include as many influential factors as possible in estimating software size and/or effort. This research suggests a different approach that simplifies and tailors a generic function point analysis model to increase ease of use. The proposed approach redefines the function type categories in the FPA model, on the basis of the target application's characteristics and system architecture. This method makes the function types more suitable for the particular application domain. It also enables function point counting by the programmers themselves instead of by an expert. An empirical study using historical data establishes the regression model and demonstrates that its prediction accuracy is comparable to that of a FPA model.