Software Engineering - Old Questions

4. What are the different categories of software development projects according to the COCOMO estimation model? Explain.

The COCOMO (Constructive Cost Model) is one of the most popularly used software cost estimation models i.e. it estimates or predicts the effort required for the project, total project cost and scheduled time for the project. This model depends on the number of lines of code for software product development.

In COCOMO, projects are categorized into three types:

1. Organic – A software project is said to be an organic type if the team size required is adequately small, the problem is well understood and has been solved in the past and also the team members have a nominal experience regarding the problem.  Examples of this type of projects are simple business systems, simple inventory management systems, and data processing systems.

2. Semi-detached – A development project can be treated with semidetached type if the development consists of a mixture of experienced and inexperienced staff. Team members may have finite experience in related systems but may be unfamiliar with some aspects of the order being developed. Example of Semidetached system includes developing a new operating system (OS), a Database Management System (DBMS), and complex inventory management system.

3. Embedded – A software project with requiring the highest level of complexity, creativity, and experience requirement fall under this category. Such software requires a larger team size than the other two models and also the developers need to be sufficiently experienced and creative to develop such complex models.  For Example: ATM, Air Traffic control.