Software Estimation Perspectives - Guest Editors' Introduction

2 2 I E E E S O F T W A R E N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 0 0 7 4 0 7 4 5 9 / 0 0 / $ 1 0 . 0 0 © 2 0 0 0 I E E E Often, the accountant’s answer is the most helpful of all. You may have been looking for the answer to the following question: “The Inspections people estimate that they can remove 68% of my software defects; the Test people estimate that they can remove 73%. How many will they remove together?” Clearly, 141% is not a good answer; there must be some defects that are being counted twice. This story brings out two important points about software estimation: