Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC): End-to-End Overview

What is Effort Estimation?

Effort estimation predicts number of hours required, number of developers needed & project duration etc.

Common Estimation Techniques

1. Expert Judgment: Senior developers estimate based on experience.

2. Analogous Estimation: Compare with similar past projects.

3. Bottom-Up Estimation: Break project into small tasks → estimate each → sum total.

4. Three-Point Estimation: Expected Time = (Optimistic + 4 × Most Likely + Pessimistic) / 6

Cost Estimation Includes:

• Developer salary
• Infrastructure
• Tools
• Licensing
• Maintenance