THE SATURATION EFFECT IN LARGE-SCALE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT: ITS IMPACT AND CONTROL
Abstract
The focus of this work is the degradation in productivity attributable to programmer saturation in team-oriented software development. An analytic resource model designed to reflect the relationship between project team-size and the consumption of time and effort is presented. It is evaluated and compared to existing models of comparable complexity with respect to soundness and consistency with data reflecting a large body of commercially developed products from several environments. The analysis confirms that small increases in personnel can result in significant increases in total development effort. A study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of knowledgeable programmers, both with and without management experience, in dealing with issues considered important in controlling the effects of saturation in team programming. Metrics are presented which quantify such factors as the balancing of programming responsibility and the potential interdependencies among team members. Based on the results of this study and on evidence obtained from the detailed analysis of several commercial development projects, it is argued that metrics of the type considered may be of use to the managers of large or complex projects in partitioning responsibility and controlling costs.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Computer science
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