Updated Tool Strengthens Analysis of Programming Language Efficiencies
MCLEAN, VA, April 25, 2013 - Quantitative Software Management, Inc. (QSM), a leader in software process improvement and estimation, today announced a new release of their Function Point Languages Table. The table provides industry averages, organized by programming language, for the source lines of code required to implement a function point (a unit of software functionality). The table is in its fifth version and, unlike similar industry references, is based on data from software projects that have been successfully completed and deployed.
The data for Release 5.0 came from more than 2,192 recently completed projects sized in function points. This sample included 126 different languages, of which 37 provided enough data to be included in the table. Data for three new languages, Brio, Cognos Impromptu Scripts, and Cross Systems Products (CSP), have been included. For each language, the table provides the average, median, and range (low-to-high values) to provide insight into the variance and central tendency of the data values.
Development teams and software estimators use the QSM table to estimate the level of effort and the corresponding time and budget required to achieve a set of software requirements. This estimation is a critical part of the software development process; QSM data suggests that approximately one-third of completed projects overrun their planned schedules or budgets by at least 20% (based on a 2012 sample of more than 3,300 completed projects in the QSM database that provided overrun or slippage data).
"Overall, the range of gearing factors (minimum and maximum) for each language in the table has grown smaller with each release," said Larry Putnam, Jr., Co-Chief Executive Officer for QSM. "Average and median values for most languages have also decreased since the last update. We attribute these changes to better programming practices and increases in the quality and quantity of data available for analysis. We hope Release 5.0 of our Function Point Languages Table will help us better serve IT project managers, steering them toward more successful and cost-effective IT implementations through our function point consulting services."
About Quantitative Software Management, Inc. (QSM)
Founded in 1978 by one of the pioneers of software measurement, Larry Putnam, Sr., QSM offers estimation products and consulting services that enable federal and commercial clients to estimate, track and benchmark projects. QSM tools and methods help software and systems analysts negotiate achievable goals, set realistic expectations, and communicate more effectively with management and customers. QSM offers the SLIM (Software Lifecycle Management) Suite of tools, which contains metrics from a worldwide database of more than 10,000 completed projects, enabling productivity benchmarking on the desktop. Using SLIM to dynamically run 'virtual project simulations' and validate them against their own or the 600+ QSM industry benchmarks, companies can model and forecast project releases to deliver on time, within budget with > 90% estimation accuracy. Visit us at www.qsm.com, http://www.facebook.com/QuantitativeSoftwareManagement, and on Twitter @QSM_SLIM.