The Influence of Non Functional Characteristics in
Effort Estimation using Function Point Analysis
Senthilkumar Murugesan and Chidambararajan
Balasubramanian
Department of Computer Science and Engeneering,
Kamaraj University, India
Abstract: Software
engineering is the discipline which paves the road map for the development of
software within the given schedule and effort with the desired quality. The
process begins with estimating the size, effort and time required for the
development of the software and ends with the product. In most existing
research on the effort estimation, the Function Point Analysis (FPA) method is
used to estimate the effort, but not ensure the non- functional characteristics
and quality factors of the project. In this paper, we study the uncertainty of
effort estimation in the project and the impact of non functional
characteristics in the effort estimation in detail. The refined model shows
that the influence of non functional characteristics increases the accuracy of
effort estimation in software project. By implications, the research suggests
somewhat the impacts of non-functional characteristics in estimation is the
most effective approach to improve the estimating accuracy may be to make
estimators and developers more accountable in the software estimation.
Keywords: Software effort estimation, FPA, non functional
characteristics, accuracy.
Received November 26, 2013; accepted December 23, 2014