Analysis of the Techniques for Software Cost Estimation

One of the most valuable asset in any software industry is the correct estimation of effort and hence cost estimation of the software to be developed by them. Because of the highly dynamic nature of the Software development, it becomes more and more difficult to get a correct software effort estimation and software cost estimation, which is one of the most important factor which makes software more competitive and is essential for controlling Software Development Cost. Software Cost Estimation is one of the challenging managerial activity, because values of many of the variables are not known and not easy to predict at an early stage of Software Development. An ideal Software Cost Estimation Model should provide ample confidence, precision and accuracy from its predictions. In this paper, we have performed an analysis of most of the algorithmic techniques which has been developed till now for Software Cost Estimation. We have also tried to analyze the advantages and shortcomings of every technique.