SE 468 Midterm Exam Study Guide

SE 468 Midterm Exam Study Guide

Material covered in lectures 1 to 5 may be included in the Midterm exam

Exam format:

Multiple choice, essay, true/false, matching, definitions.

Expected duration: < 1.5 hour.
Maximum time allowed 3 hours.

Topics covered

1 of 1Rev: 12 October 2009

SE 468 Midterm Exam Study Guide

  • Measurement theory
  • Types of measurements (nominal, ordinal, …)
  • Precision and accuracy
  • Correlation and causality
  • Software metrics
  • Lines of code, estimation, weaknesses etc.
  • Function points.
  • Other size estimations
  • Project estimation
  • Estimating tools
  • Three-point estimation theory
  • Estimating resources
  • Estimating duration
  • Effort estimation
  • Risk factors
  • COCOMO
  • Quality
  • Basic quality analysis tools
  • GQM
  • ROI and NPV
  • Cost/benefit analysis
  • Payback period

1 of 1Rev: 12 October 2009

SE 468 Midterm Exam Study Guide

Skills and competencies:

  • The relationship between estimation accuracy and project completion.
  • Lines of code, estimation, weaknesses etc.
  • Effort estimation

Sample Questions

The following types of questions are good examples of the types of questions I may ask.

  1. Why do we track the defect count when monitoring the execution of software projects?
  2. What will assist us in estimating the effort, cost, and schedule of the software project?
  3. The project risk exposure will peak in the requirements phase, Explain.
  4. Given the relevant information about inputs, etc., and adjustment factors, calculate the function point metric for a project.
  5. A project was estimated at 352 Function points. A four-person team will be assigned to this project consisting of an architect, two programmers, and a tester. The burdened labor rate of the architect is $8,000 per month, the programmers $6,000 and the tester $5,000. The average productivity for the team is 8 FP per person month. Which of the following represents the projected cost of the project? (8 pts)
  6. A given project has 5 user inputs, 10 user outputs, 7 inquiries, 5 files, and 3 external interfaces. All of these are average complexity EXCEPT 2 of the inputs are complex, two of the outputs are complex, and one of the outputs is simple. Adjustment factors are all moderate except that the system will require a significant amount of online data entry, and it is essential that the code be designed with reuse in mind. Calculate the number of Function Points for this system. (Show all your work).
  7. Function points =(6 points)
  8. What are the primary advantages of using Function points over LOC metrics? (4 points)
  9. What are the primary disadvantages? (4 points)
  10. Given the following optimistic, likely, and pessimistic lines of code, what is the approximate estimated lines of code for the control center?

Major Software Functions / Optimistic / Most Likely / Pessimistic
Interface with sensors and user / 1,500 / 2,300 / 3,100
Control center / 3,800 / 5,200 / 7,200
Alarm activation / 4,600 / 6,900 / 8,600
  1. 5,400
  2. 4,333
  3. 5,300
  4. 5,200
  5. None of the above
  1. Describe the GQM paradigm. Give an example.
  2. Explain the relationships between software size, effort, schedule, and cost.

Selected solutions

  1. A project was estimated at 352 Function points. A four person team will be assigned to this project consisting of an architect, two programmers, and a tester. The burdened labor rate of the architect is $8,000 per month, the programmers $6,000 and the tester $5,000. The average productivity for the team is 8 FP per person month. Which of the following represents the projected cost of the project? (8 pts)

a.$281,600

b.$209,000

c.$269,500

d.$275,000

e.None of the above.

Calculate number of months
Function points / 352
No of function points team can complete in one month / 32 / (4 people X 8 FPs)
No of months needed to complete / 11
Calculate cost per month
Architect / 8000 / 1 / $8,000
Programmers / 6000 / 2 / $12,000
Tester / 5000 / 1 / $5,000
Cost per month / $25,000
Total cost (Multiple # of months X Cost per month) / $275,000
  1. Given the following optimistic, likely, and pessimistic lines of code, what is the approximate estimated lines of code for the control center?

Major Software Functions / Optimistic / Most Likely / Pessimistic
Interface with sensors and user / 1,500 / 2,300 / 3,100
Control center / 3,800 / 5,200 / 7,200
Alarm activation / 4,600 / 6,900 / 8,600

a.5,400

b.4,333

c.5,300

d.5,200

e.None of the above

Optimistic + 4(Likely) + Pessimistic

  1. A given project has 5 user inputs, 10 user outputs, 7 inquiries, 5 files, and 3 external interfaces. All of these are average complexity EXCEPT 2 of the inputs are complex, two of the outputs are complex, and one of the outputs is simple. Adjustment factors are all moderate except that the system will require a significant amount of online data entry, and it is essential that the code is designed with reuse in mind. Calculate the number of Function Points for this system. (Show all your workings).

a.Function points = (6 points)

User inputs / (3X4) + (2*6) / 24
User Outputs / (1X4) + (7X5) + (2X7) / 53
Inquiries / (7X4) / 28
Files / (5X10) / 50
Interfaces / (3X7) / 21
UFP / 176
FP = UFP X [ 0.65 + 0.01 X  Fi ]
Fi = (12X2) + (1X4) + (1X5) = 33
FP = 176 X [ 0.65 + 0.01 X 33] = 172.48

1 of 1Rev: 12 October 2009