The Impact of Details in the Class Diagram on Software Size Estimation

Software size is an important attribute in software project planning. Several methods for software size estimation are available; most of them are based on function points. Albrecht introduced function points as a technologically independent method with its own software abstraction layer. However, it is difficult to apply original abstraction elements to current technologies. Therefore researchers introduced additional rules and mappings for object-based solutions. In this paper several mapping strategies are discussed and compared. Based on the similarities in compared mappings, a common mapping strategy is then defined. This mapping is then tested on the reference application portfolio containing five applications. The aim of the test scenario is to evaluate the impact of the diverse detail levels in the class diagrams on software size measurement. Although the question of how to perform quality size measurements in object-oriented projects remains unanswered, the paper gives valuable information on the topic, supported by mathematics.