Linked Questions
13 questions linked to/from How to explain that it's hard to estimate the time required for a bigger software project?
28
votes
13
answers
2k
views
Sales Manager: "Why is time-estimation so complex?" [duplicate]
A few days ago a sales manager asked me that question. But at this moment I didn't know a answer which he can understand. He isn't a programmer!
At the moment I work on a product which is over 8 ...
- 443
4
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Setting Deadlines in software development [duplicate]
I have been working on a system alone for about two years. I inherited the system from a contractor who spent about two years working on it before me (alone). The system is not particularly well ...
- 7,129
1
vote
2
answers
253
views
Developing an big system in a a small company [duplicate]
I'm doing this one anonymously.
Our company manufactures some kind of machines and also has a software department, which I'm part of. Our philosophy is mostly to have in-house software and ...
- 11
711
votes
17
answers
250k
views
How to respond when you are asked for an estimate?
We, as programmers, are constantly being asked 'How long will it take'?
And you know, the situation is almost always like this:
The requirements are unclear. Nobody has done an in depth analysis of ...
66
votes
36
answers
12k
views
What can I do to get better at estimating how long projects are going to take? [duplicate]
I don't want to make life hard for management. I really don't. They're nice enough guys, but every time I am assigned a new project or task and get asked "how long do you think it will take to do ...
66
votes
12
answers
10k
views
Getting non-programmers to understand the development process
When starting a project for a company that's not primarily a programming company, one of the expectations is that there's a finished product at the end free of all bugs and does everything needed ...
44
votes
14
answers
12k
views
How to learn to make better estimates? [closed]
I suck at estimates. When someone asks me how long something will take, I don't even dare to make a guess since I will be completely off the mark. Usually I'm way too optimistic, and should probably ...
- 17.5k
33
votes
14
answers
2k
views
Boss doesn't believe my time estimate... advice/backup? [duplicate]
I'm working at a startup software company -- 3 developers, less than 15 employees including the CEO. We deal exclusively with Windows Mobile, the .NET CF, and passing the information gathered from our ...
- 821
60
votes
5
answers
5k
views
How to explain to a non-technical person why the task will take much longer than they think? [closed]
Almost every developer has to answer questions from business side like:
Why is going to take 2 days to add this simple contact form?
When a developer estimates this task, they may divide it into ...
- 3,301
5
votes
6
answers
519
views
The business and architecture challenge behind creating effective user stories
A friend of mine in another department had a problem and came to me with a question that I wasn't sure how to help him with. He recently became promoted to architect and he was put in charge of ...
- 26.5k
4
votes
5
answers
1k
views
How to accurately predict release items? [duplicate]
We are having a disconnect between development and business needs.
Business is asking me to produce an accurate list of deliverables for a fixed date and development being difficult to predict is ...
- 141
4
votes
2
answers
610
views
Efficient way to create a code estimation/technical specification in a fast-moving environment
To better understand my question, let me elaborate the background of the subject matter.
I work in a financial institution where the business module (credit finance) is constantly changing. In the IT ...
- 830
2
votes
1
answer
134
views
Is there an SWE principle associating project size and risk?
I think it is well understood that the risk in a software engineering project increases with the size of the project, and the slope of the scale exceeds linear. As the number of features increase, ...
- 26.9k