Paradoxes of Software Estimation
Murali Chemuturi - August 18, 2006

Introduction

Software development has spawned an independent industry, with organizations offering software development services exclusively. As it is perhaps in the nascent stages, the processes of asking for service, offering a service, and pricing are all somewhat haphazard. Software development falls into the category of the services industry as opposed to the product industry—that is, a service is offered, and not a product. Many parallels can be drawn with similar service industries. The major difference between the software service industry and other service industries, however, is that software is much more highly priced and complex. Where there is complexity and money, academics step in; research is conducted; jargon is developed; concepts are proposed; and a new branch of science or engineering comes to life...