COCOMO Model

COCOMO Model
Cocomo (Constructive Cost Model) is a regression model based on LOC,

i.e number of Lines of Code. It is a procedural cost estimate model for software
projects and is often used as a process of reliably predicting the various
parameters associated with making a project such as size, effort, cost, time, and
quality. It was proposed by Barry Boehm in 1981 and is based on the study of 63
projects, which makes it one of the best-documented models.
The key parameters which define the quality of any software products, which are
also an outcome of the Cocomo are primarily Effort & Schedule:
• Effort: Amount of labor that will be required to complete a task. It is

measured in person-months units.
• Schedule: Simply means the amount of time required for the
completion of the job, which is, of course, proportional to the effort put
in. It is measured in the units of time such as weeks, months.
Different models of Cocomo have been proposed to predict the cost estimation at
different levels, based on the amount of accuracy and correctness required. All of
these models can be applied to a variety of projects, whose characteristics
determine the value of constant to be used in subsequent calculations. These
characteristics pertaining to different system types are mentioned below.
Boehm’s definition of organic, semidetached, and embedded systems:
1. Organic – A software project is said to be an organic type if the team
size required is adequately small, the problem is well understood and
has been solved in the past and also the team members have a nominal
experience regarding the problem.
2. Semi-detached – A software project is said to be a Semi-detached type
if the vital characteristics such as team size, experience, knowledge of
the various programming environment lie in between that of organic
and Embedded. The projects classified as Semi-Detached are
comparatively less familiar and difficult to develop compared to the
organic ones and require more experience and better guidance and
creativity. Eg: Compilers or different Embedded Systems can be
considered of Semi-Detached type.
3. Embedded – A software project requiring the highest level of
complexity, creativity, and experience requirement fall under this
category. Such software requires a larger team size than the other two
models and also the developers need to be sufficiently experienced and
creative to develop such complex models.
All the above system types utilize different values of the constants used
in Effort Calculations.
Types of Models: COCOMO consists of a hierarchy of three
increasingly detailed and accurate forms. Any of the three forms can be
adopted according to our requirements. These are types of COCOMO
model:
1. Basic COCOMO Model
2. Intermediate COCOMO Model
3. Detailed COCOMO Model
1. Basic COCOMO can be used for quick and slightly rough

calculations of Software Costs. Its accuracy is somewhat restricted due
to the absence of sufficient factor considerations.
Intermediate COCOMO takes these Cost Drivers into account

and Detailed COCOMO additionally accounts for the influence of
individual project phases, i.e in case of Detailed it accounts for both
these cost drivers and also calculations are performed phase-wise
henceforth producing a more accurate result. These two models are
further discussed below.
The above formula is used for the cost estimation of for the basic
COCOMO model, and also is used in the subsequent models. The
constant values a,b,c and d for the Basic Model for the different
categories of system:
Software Projects a b c d
Organic 2.4 1.05 2.5 0.38
Semi Detached 3.0 1.12 2.5 0.35
Embedded 3.6 1.20 2.5 0.32
The effort is measured in Person-Months and as evident from the formula is

dependent on Kilo-Lines of code. The development time is measured in months.
These formulas are used as such in the Basic Model calculations, as not much
consideration of different factors such as reliability, expertise is taken into
account, henceforth the estimate is rough.
2. Intermediate Model –
The basic Cocomo model assumes that the effort is only a function of the
number of lines of code and some constants evaluated according to the different
software systems. However, in reality, no system’s effort and schedule can be
solely calculated on the basis of Lines of Code. For that, various other factors
such as reliability, experience, Capability. These factors are known as Cost
Drivers and the Intermediate Model utilizes 15 such drivers for cost estimation.
Classification of Cost Drivers and their attributes:
(i) Product attributes –
• Required software reliability extent
• Size of the application database
• The complexity of the product
(ii) Hardware attributes –
• Run-time performance constraints
• Memory constraints
• The volatility of the virtual machine environment
• Required turnabout time
(iii) Personnel attributes –
• Analyst capability
• Software engineering capability
• Applications experience
• Virtual machine experience
• Programming language experience
(iv) Project attributes –
• Use of software tools
• Application of software engineering methods
• Required development schedule
Nominal
Very Very
;
Cost Drivers Low Low High High
Product Attributes
Required Software Reliability 0.75 0.88 1.00 1.15 1.40
Size of Application Database 0.94 1.00 1.08 1.16
Complexity of The Product 0.70 0.85 1.00 1.15 1.30
Hardware Attributes
Runtime Performance
Constraints 1.00 1.11 1.30
Memory Constraints 1.00 1.06 1.21
Volatility of the virtual

machine environment 0.87 1.00 1.15 1.30
Required turnabout time 0.94 1.00 1.07 1.15
Personnel attributes
Analyst capability 1.46 1.19 1.00 0.86 0.71
Applications experience 1.29 1.13 1.00 0.91 0.82
Software engineer capability 1.42 1.17 1.00 0.86 0.70

Nominal
Very Very
;
Cost Drivers Low Low High High
Virtual machine experience 1.21 1.10 1.00 0.90
Programming language
experience 1.14 1.07 1.00 0.95
Project Attributes
Application of software
engineering methods 1.24 1.10 1.00 0.91 0.82
Use of software tools 1.24 1.10 1.00 0.91 0.83
Required development
schedule 1.23 1.08 1.00 1.04 1.10
The project manager is to rate these 15 different parameters for a particular

project on a scale of one to three. Then, depending on these ratings, appropriate
cost driver values are taken from the above table. These 15 values are then
multiplied to calculate the EAF (Effort Adjustment Factor). The Intermediate
COCOMO formula now takes the form:
3. Detailed Model –
Detailed COCOMO incorporates all characteristics of the intermediate version

with an assessment of the cost driver’s impact on each step of the software
engineering process. The detailed model uses different effort multipliers for
each cost driver attribute. In detailed Cocomo, the whole software is divided
into different modules and then we apply COCOMO in different modules to
estimate effort and then sum the effort.
The Six phases of detailed COCOMO are:

1. Planning and requirements
2. System design
3. Detailed design
4. Module code and test
5. Integration and test
6. Cost Constructive model
The effort is calculated as a function of program size and a set of cost

drivers are given according to each phase of the software lifecycle.

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COCOMO Model

Cocomo (Constructive Cost Model) is a regression model based on LOC,

• Effort: Amount of labor that will be required to complete a task. It is

1. Basic COCOMO can be used for quick and slightly rough

Intermediate COCOMO takes these Cost Drivers into account

Organic 2.4 1.05 2.5 0.38

Semi Detached 3.0 1.12 2.5 0.35

Embedded 3.6 1.20 2.5 0.32

The effort is measured in Person-Months and as evident from the formula is

Required Software Reliability 0.75 0.88 1.00 1.15 1.40

Size of Application Database 0.94 1.00 1.08 1.16

Complexity of The Product 0.70 0.85 1.00 1.15 1.30

Memory Constraints 1.00 1.06 1.21

Volatility of the virtual

Required turnabout time 0.94 1.00 1.07 1.15

Analyst capability 1.46 1.19 1.00 0.86 0.71

Applications experience 1.29 1.13 1.00 0.91 0.82

Software engineer capability 1.42 1.17 1.00 0.86 0.70

Virtual machine experience 1.21 1.10 1.00 0.90

Use of software tools 1.24 1.10 1.00 0.91 0.83

The project manager is to rate these 15 different parameters for a particular

Detailed COCOMO incorporates all characteristics of the intermediate version

The Six phases of detailed COCOMO are:

The effort is calculated as a function of program size and a set of cost

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