Just Right Software Planning & Estimation: Pragmatic Techniques that Work

Estimating and planning software projects is hard, and choosing a workable approach is even harder: you've got very lightweight, simple approaches as found in Agile and Extreme Programming projects, versus PMI, COCOMO and other heavyweight, massive, tome-like recommendations. You're caught in the middle, looking for practical and useful tools to help plan projects and guide the team. Now you can learn these "just right" approaches and techniques for estimation and planning. If you feel you're getting lost in your software projects, this is your compass. This book won't bore you with theoretical parametric models or tedious, tree-killing paperwork-heavy processes. Instead, you get practical, no-nonsense guidance for estimating and planning your software projects, mining techniques that work from both "sides" of the methodological boundaries. You'll also see context makes a diffedrence, from small to large teams, and new developments to maintenance projects. On the planning side, you'll learn the advantages of chartering to get things started on the right foot. Explore what bits and pieces of the Agile methods work well even outside of pure agile contexts, and see how to constantly adapt your plans based on key progress indicators. On the estimating side, you will find a wide variety of different counting and sizing approaches, including (PSP, Probe, Function Points and Use Case Points), and how to use them effectively. You'll also see what collaborative planning and estimation workshops are the best way to build your schedules--by harnessing the insights from your team. This book will arm you will a pragmatic toolkit of ideas, approaches, and techniques that will dramatically increase the effectiveness of your software planning and estimation abilities.