Software Measurement and Estimation
A Practical Approach
Chapter One
Introduction
You cannot predict nor control what you cannot measure.
-Fenton and Pfleeger
When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know
something about it, but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers,
your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind.
-Lord Kelvin, 1900
1.1 OBJECTIVE
Suppose you are a software manager responsible for building a new system. You
need to tell the sales team how much effort it is going to take and how soon it
can be ready. You have relatively good requirements (25 use cases). You have a
highly motivated team of five young engineers. They tell you they can have it
ready to ship in four months. Wha ... read full excerpt from Software Measurement and Estimation: A Practical Approach ebook
