Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
• Reuse percentage: 0% to 15%
• Methodology: Iterative and structured development
• Productivity: 7.0 function points per staff month
• Defect potentials: 4.5 defects per function point
• Defect removal efficiency (DRE): 87%
• Delivered defects: 0.58 defects per function point
• Ratio of development personnel to maintenance:
•
Development: 70%
•
Maintenance: 30%
The following are the background data for 1985:
• Average language level: 5.50
• Number of programming languages: 750
• Logical statements per function point: 58
• Average application size: 1,100 function points
• Average application size: 63,800
During this era, the sizes of software applications rapidly increased. Prior to
this era, only a few applications, such as mainframe operating systems, were larger
than 10,000 function points. In the 1980s, a number of major defense applications
and civilian systems began to push past 100,000 function points.
The increase in application size led to an alarming problem that still exists:
about 35% of major applications with greater than 10,000 function points are can-
celed without completion. This is because poor quality leads to such major cost
and schedule overruns that the ROI becomes negative.
Summary
At the beginning of the decade, software and computers were still somewhat ex-
perimental in many companies. By the end of the decade, software and computers
were well on their way to becoming the main business tools of every company and
government agency in the world that has more than a few employees.
The growth of computer and software usage by companies who might not have
a sufficient quantity of skilled personnel led to the rapid growth of several ancil-
lary subindustries such as management consulting, software book publishing, sem-
inars, and commercial education shops such as Digital Consulting.
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