COCOMO Effort

What is this formula?

COCOMO Effort estimates the amount of development effort required to complete a software project.

The model was introduced by Barry Boehm and remains one of the most influential software cost estimation techniques.

Effort is typically expressed in person-months and depends primarily on project size measured in thousands of source lines of code (KLOC).

When to use it

Use this formula when:

- estimating software development costs,

- planning project staffing,

- preparing project bids,

- evaluating project feasibility,

- forecasting software schedules.

Example

Suppose an Organic software project has:

KLOC = 50

Using the Basic COCOMO coefficients:

a = 2.4

b = 1.05

Formula:

E = a(KLOC)^b

Substitution:

E = 2.4(50)^1.05

E = 145.3 person-months

Result:

Estimated Effort = 145.3 person-months

Applications

- Software project planning

- Cost estimation

- Resource allocation

- Project management

- Software engineering economics

Note

COCOMO is an empirical estimation model derived from historical software projects. Different project categories use different values of a and b. The Basic COCOMO model is primarily intended for early-stage estimates and should be refined as more project information becomes available. Modern estimation methods may incorporate additional cost drivers, risk factors, and development practices.