Conceptual Overview

What is COCOMO?

COCOMO(Constructive Cost Model) is a hierarchy of software estimation models developed by Barry Boehm. The hierarchy takes on the following form:

Model 1

Basic COCOMO is a static single-valued model that computes software development effort(and cost) as a function of program size expressed in estimated lines of code.

Model 2

Intermediate COCOMO computes software development effort as a function of program size and a set of "cost drivers" that include subjective assessments of product, hardware, personnel, and project attributes.

Model 3

Advanced COCOMO incorporates all characteristics of the intermediate version with an assessment of the cost driver's impact on each step(analysis, design, etc.) of the software engineering process.

If more information is needed to refresh your memory as to what COCOMO is and how it works you might look at the csc440/441 textbook written by Pressman entitled Software Engineering: A Practitioner's Approach , pp. 84-87.

USC COCOMO

The USC COCOMO tool is based on the intermediate model developed by Barry Boehm. It implements the formulas developed by Boehm to provide the user with cost estimations based on the inputted information. This tutorial attempts to show the different aspects of the tool and provide the user information on how to manipulate the tool.