Software Estimation
by Steve McConnell · first published 2006
72% recommend27% neutral1% critical
Why HN recommends it
Survey of practical estimation techniques that treats estimating as a learnable skill. Covers the cone of uncertainty, aggregating single-point estimates, and estimates vs plans vs commitments. Suits developers and PMs.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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Never been good at estimation. Software Estimation from Steve McConnell is in my reading list for a long time now. From the little I have seen from it, it look good (I already read Code Complete from him and recommend it). Do you guys have any tips for…
on “Guide to Software Project Estimation” ↗I prefer to take my advice from someone who has demonstrated the ability to repeatedly run projects and estimate them in advance to surprisingly high accuracy. I therefore recommend Software Estimation by Steve McConnell, available at http://www.amazon.com/Software-Estimation-Demystifying-Pract....
on “Why Can't Developers Estimate Time?” ↗…Steve McConnell Publisher: Microsoft Press "The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger" by Marc Levinson Publisher: Princeton University Press "Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art (Developer Best Practices)" by Steve McConnell Publisher: Microsoft Press "Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code" by Martin Fowler Publisher: Addison-Wesley…
on “Top Books on Amazon Based on Links in Hacker News Comments” ↗…developers and managers is that estimation is a learnable skill. If you get in the habit of making estimates and testing them, you'll get better amazingly fast. See the classic book http://www.amazon.com/Software-Estimation-Demystifying-Pract...
on “Why Can't Developers Estimate Time?” ↗…reasons why you might need software schedule estimation. When you do, there is no point in throwing up your hands and saying, "You can't do that, everybody knows it." Instead get http://www.amazon.com/Software-Estimation-Demystifying-Pract... and teach yourself how to do it. Why would software estimation matter? For many companies it matters a lot if you can announce something in time for Christmas. Or you might have…
on “Software Effort Estimation Considered Harmful” ↗As usual, Steve McConnell has done the hard yards of turning literature and research into something readable and instantly applicable. http://www.amazon.com/Software-Estimation-Demystifying-Pract... Every time I estimate for clients I always talk about the Cone of Uncertainty.
on “Software Effort Estimation Considered Harmful” ↗Reminds me of a great Steve McConnell book, Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0735605351/ref=redir_mdp_mobil...
on “Friction: why we can't build software as fast as we think we can” ↗Terminology nitpick: this article is not about planning, it's about estimation. Estimates, plans and commitments are three different things (see http://www.amazon.com/Software-Estimation-Demystifying-Pract..., which is the best book I've read on the subject). The problem with estimation in many cases is that people who dictate requirements often dictate commitments as well, and do so…
on “Planning fallacy: why people suck at planning and what to do about it” ↗…is certainly possible and is practiced by professionals, I do it myself. It's a skill though and it requires ground work in advance. Those interested may find discussion of some methods in McConnell's "Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art". Humphrey's PSP materials are an earlier but useful source of information. The skill is irrelevant in most workplaces though. In most cases time to do an estimation is forbidden,…
on “Why Can't Developers Estimate Time?” ↗…management (and you should, if you are a professional PM), you might not know if you are 52 or 53% done, but you will definitely know if you are ~80% done or ~50% done. If you want sources, read McConnell's "Software estimation" and references, or if you are in a hurry, take the bite-sized blog post about "Yesterdays weather" from Fowler: http://martinfowler.com/bliki/YesterdaysWeather.html which is based on the same experience…
on “Go Hard Early” ↗Read "Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art" by Steve McConnell [1]. [1] http://www.stevemcconnell.com/est.htm
on “Coding, Fast and Slow: Developers and the Psychology of Overconfidence” ↗My favourite book on software estimation is McConnell's Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art. As usual he takes a vast body of literature and boils it down into a chatty, usable book. The tables and checklists are worth the sticker…
on “Software Development Estimates: Where Do I Start?” ↗…would spend countless nights up late trying to finish a feature I promised someone else would be delivered yesterday. So I did what my grandpa always recommended and I picked up a book, Steve McConnell's Software Estimation : The Black Art. And it taught me all types of tricks like making sure to break tasks into the smallest possible pieces.(Along with many other things. Seriously by this book, and every book Steve McConnell…
on “How to Become a Great JavaScript Developer” ↗Get these two http://www.amazon.com/Rapid-Development-Taming-Software-Sche... and http://www.amazon.com/Software-Estimation-Demystifying-Devel... If you want to get deeper into project management I suggest that you become a member of the PMI and possibly get certification from them. The training and testing are rigorous…
on “Ask HN: Taking on Some Product Manager Responsibilities: Book Recommendations?” ↗The book I linked up above is one of the best I've read on software estimation. It's short, it covers exactly the problems we run into everyday (managers take estimates to mean commitments, optimism on most estimates, constant pressure to reduce estimates because they cannot be…
on “Project delays: why good software estimates are impossible” ↗