In response to my previous post, I made a new word cloud for the top 25 programming languages in the QSM historical database from 2008 to present.

One striking difference between this word cloud and the last week's is that the font sizes are much smaller, due to the smaller sample size. Since word clouds use font size to represent size within a sample, this is expected since the entire QSM database is larger than the sample from 2008 to present. 

Unlike last week's cloud, Java is the predominant programming language since 2008. Java represents 26% of the sample since 2008 while COBOL, the #1 programming language in the entire database, holds only 11% of this sample. According to Langpop.com, a site which ranks the popularity of programming languages using search results, Java ranks second in the Normalized Comparison chart, just below C.  

In Programming Language Trends: An Empirical Study, a paper from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the authors attempt to predict the popularity of programming languages by using regression analysis which focuses on intrinsic and extrinsic factors.  

On Thursday, Nov. 8 at 1:00 PM EST, I will present SLIM-WebServices: Project Estimation Goes Global - a webinar showcasing our new, web-based estimation and measurement tool. I'm looking forward to demonstrating how this powerful, yet easy-to-use tool can be leveraged by both non-technical users and estimation experts alike to share project estimation intelligence across the entire enterprise.

For too long, project estimation intelligence has been confined to a niche group, making it difficult for business stakeholders and decision makers to get critical project planning information when they need it. Introducing SLIM-WebServices from QSM - the lighter, leaner, liberated way to share the power of SLIM with an entire enterprise. With this new cloud-based tool, we are empowering more people in more positions at more places in an enterprise - improving visibility, transparency and informed decision making. Ultimately, this is an organization's best defense against cost overruns, schedule slippages, and failed implementations. Presented by QSM Marketing Manager, Elisabeth Pendergrass, this webinar gives an overview and live demonstration of SLIM-WebServices. 

As Marketing Manager at QSM, Elisabeth Pendergrass has over 7 years of experience working in software and technology marketing. Her responsibilities at QSM include website and search engine marketing, organizing in-house and joint webinars, social media, creating marketing materials for new product offerings, and managing PR efforts. 

Register now for this webinar!

Here is a helpful tip for comparing project performance for projects of different sizes.

Software size has a big impact on metrics like effort, duration, defects, or productivity. We have known for many years that the relationship between project size and most software metrics is exponential. That is why our trends appear straight on a log – log scale.  SLIM Suite tools take project size into account by regressing core software metrics like effort, duration, or productivity against size to sanity-check estimates and benchmark completed projects:

The charts above show both the average trend and +/- 1, 2, and 3 standard deviation trend lines.  As a rule of thumb, a normal distribution (or one that has been normalized by transformation such as our log scale) will typically contain 68% of the data between +/- 1 standard deviation of the mean, 95% within +/- 2 standard deviations, and 99.7% within +/- 3 standard deviations.

Information about the standard deviation can be useful when analyzing software metrics, and it is quite easy to produce in SLIM-Metrics. Starting with a database of SLIM-DataManager projects, you can get a table of the standard deviations using SLIM-Metrics’ five star reports.

Here is a five star report for a set of Command & Control (C&C) software projects.

Since I began working with SLIM-Metrics and the QSM historical database, I've been interested in unique ways to present information.  I've written before about how others pair data and design to visualize patterns, but this is my first attempt: a word cloud.  

A word cloud is a graphical representation of how often a word is used within a sample.  The larger the font in the word cloud, the more often it is used in the sample.  Word clouds are a great tool for displaying sensitive data without having to use numbers.  The above word cloud visualizes the entire QSM database, going back three decades.

What I like about this visualization is that at a glance, you can tell that more projects use PL/1 than Natural, simply by examining font size.  Even without knowing exactly how many Java projects are in the QSM database, you can still determine that it's more than Visual Basic, but less than COBOL. 

Unsurprisingly, COBOL still has a large market share in the QSM database.  Most COBOL projects completed after 2000 were maintenance projects, not new development. 

What would you do if you knew from the beginning that the project you were working on was doomed to fail? Would you ask for an extended deadline? More people? Or would you agree to the project manager’s needs knowing in advance that the agreed upon criteria could not be met? Unfortunately, this is a situation that faces nearly 70% of software developers, reports Adrian Bridgwater in an article for Computer Weekly. Luckily for software developers and project managers alike, the launch of QSM’s cloud-based product, SLIM-WebServices, can help your organization prevent project failure.

Through the use of QSM’s advanced algorithmic analyses and extensive project database, SLIM has assisted seven of the top 10 systems integrators in the world with their estimation and benchmarking needs. “Project intelligence is infinitely more valuable when shared,” explains Larry Putnam, Jr., co-CEO for QSM. SLIM-WebServices’ cloud-based format makes it easier than ever to share project intelligence. Users can create and share estimates anywhere there is an internet connection. Putnam concludes by stating, “With SLIM-WebServices, we’re empowering more people in more positions at more places in an enterprise – improving visibility, transparency and informed decision-making. Ultimately, this is a company’s best defense against cost overruns, schedule slippages, and failed implementations.”  

Learn more about SLIM-WebServices!

QSM is pleased to welcome Taylor Putnam to the QSM Research and Technical Support team. Taylor joins QSM with a strong research background. Throughout college and her time interning for QSM, she has conducted studies on risk perception, complex decision making, behavioral economics, and project sizing. Taylor graduated cum laude from Dickinson College with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Spanish.

Taylor will be assisting in peer reviews for product documentation, new product testing, research to support consulting engagements, validating new projects for the QSM Database.

SLIM-WebServices is here! We are pleased to introduce the newest generation of SLIM tools: a "light and lean," cloud-based version of our world-class project estimating, tracking, and benchmarking products. With a streamlined structure and simplified user interface, SLIM-WebServices endows more people in more positions at more places in an enterprise with sophisticated project estimation intelligence – improving visibility, transparency, and global collaboration.

Whether you’re conducting a feasibility assessment, estimating a new project, tracking ongoing projects, building a historical database, or benchmarking your completed projects, SLIM-WebServices support better decision making at each stage of the software lifecycle. This powerful, yet easy-to-use tool delivers fast results using minimal inputs, allowing estimators, project managers, stakeholders, and senior management to quickly and easily share information and lessons learned. SLIM-WebServices mirror the software development lifecycle, and encourage the adoption of enterprise-wide standards for project estimation, tracking, and benchmarking.

Read the full news release.

At QSM we offer Estimation Process Consulting Services and the SLIM-Estimate tool. In my 16 years at QSM, I have probably spoken with hundreds of project managers about the pain that they have in the estimation area. Many tell me that they want to finish implementing their process before they bring in a tool.

One of the things that I have learned over the years is that it can be extremely beneficial to bring in the tool while the process is being developed. A successful estimation process implementation is about getting the right project data in the right place for consistent collaboration and results. Implement both the process and the tool at the same time and you can save a ton of money in rework costs down the road. 

A good estimation tool provides a roadmap and a communication vehicle for a successful estimation process. The tool collects the core metrics that the process requires. It also streamlines the results to give the user exactly what they need to know: risk, size, duration, effort, reliability, and productivity.

Some will spend years writing and implementing their process. Why not get the estimation tool in place sooner to make things easier?

Imagine we are starting a new Agile project, one that is key to our competitive position. We need to deliver in six months. Our competition is already in the market, so we must at least match them on features and quality. This project is twice as large as other projects we've done recently, but the project is important enough to put our best people on it. Two teams stand out - their velocity is consistently high on the projects they've completed. If we put those teams together, their combined velocity should do the trick! Well, maybe it's not quite that easy. In Predictable Change - Flexing the Five Core Levers of Software Development, Dr. Andy Berner from QSM introduces the key metrics used to predict what it takes to do a new project and some of the issues you'll encounter when moving from Agile iteration planning to planning new projects and releases. 

Dr. Andy Berner is a senior software engineer at Quantitative Software Management, Inc. Previously, Andy worked at IBM where he was lead architect for enablement and strategy in the Ready for IBM Rational program. Andy has done extensive consulting on software development methods and tools, recently focusing on integrations of tools and team members throughout the software lifecycle. Prior to IBM, Andy spent 11 years at EDS. In a former life, Andy was a research mathematician and teacher. He now helps QSM customers improve their ability to manage and control their projects. 

Download the free white paper now!

The 2012 Olympics are over and it will be another four years until we can all discuss how much we hate NBC's coverage.   Susy Jackson of the Harvard Business Review blog points out in her blog post  that while the games of years past have been huge spectacles  of debt, the London Olympics have attempted to be "green," in that many of the structures built for the 2012 games will be reused for the 2016 Rio games and other events.  Instead of building permanent structures that will be abandoned shortly after the games are over (HBR mentions the " temporary arenas still standing in tatters in Beijing, frogs inhabiting an abandoned training pool in Athens, a forgotten ski jump resting quietly in Italy"), the London Legacy Development Corporation attempted to reuse about one-third of all structures created for the games. 

Naturally, this inspired me to find the link between the Olympics and software development.  

One commenter Uri writes:

I think there is much more than buildings that are left behind. There is huge pull of amazing skills, knowledge, technological advancements which if planned and used properly can prove to be a bigger and much more sustainable contribution. However, putting these into use may require more thinking and planning then the reuse of infrastructure.