Skip to main content

A Review Study on the Accuracy of Conversion Between IFPUG FPA and COSMIC Function Points

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Smart Technologies and Innovation for a Sustainable Future

Part of the book series: Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation ((ASTI))

  • 1960 Accesses

Abstract

Functional size measurement methods are widely used by software project managers since it supports early estimation. Function Point Analysis (FPA) was the first method proposed for the purpose of capturing functional size, but unfortunately it is flawed in some ways. A second-generation method was COSMIC function points that offered a novel design. However, since then, the accuracy of convertibility between the two measures has become an issue. This study aims to determine how accurate are the conversion types featured in the literature employing the ordinary least squares regression model by examining the convertibility of Fetcke case study via the leave one out cross validation. The findings indicated that the most commonly-used conversion type did not provide the highest accuracy. Instead it was the transaction function-based type that achieved best results. Therefore, in order to obtain high accurate results, several conversion types must be tested.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Albrecht, A.J.: Measuring application development productivity. In: IBO Conference on Application Development, pp. 83–92 (1979)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Albrecht, A.J., Gaffney, J.E.: Software function, source lines of code, and development effort prediction: a software science validation. IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng. SE-9(6), 639–648 (1983)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Conte, S.D., Dunsmore, H.E., Shen, V.Y.: Software Engineering Metrics and Models. Benjamin-Cummings Publishing Co, Redwood City (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Grady, R.: Practical Software Metrics for Project Management and Process Improvement. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Abran, A., Robillard, P.N.: Function points analysis: an empirical study of its measurement processes. IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng. 22(12), 895–910 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Abran, A., et al.: The COSMIC Functional Size Measurement Method Measurement Manual, version 4.0.1 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Vogelezang, F., Lesterhuis, A.: Applicability of COSMIC full function points in an administrative environment experiences of an early adopter. In: Proceedings of the 13th International Workshop on Software Measurement—IWSM 2003 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Cuadrado-Gallego, J.J., Buglione, L., Domínguez-Alda, M.J., de Sevilla, M.F., de Mesa, J.A.G., Demirors, O.: An experimental study on the conversion between IFPUG and COSMIC functional size measurement units. Inf. Softw. Technol. 52(3), 347–357 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Cuadrado-Gallego, J.J., Abran, A., Rodríguez-Soria, P., Lara, M.A.: An experimental study on the conversion between IFPUG and UCP functional size measurement units. J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. C 15(3), 161–173 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Ferrucci, F., Gravino, C., Sarro,. F.: A case study on the conversion of function points into COSMIC. In: Proceedings of the 2011 37th EUROMICRO Conference on Software Engineering and Advanced Applications, pp. 461–464 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Gencel, C., Bideau, C.: Exploring the convertibility between IFPUG and COSMIC function points: preliminary findings. In: 2012 Joint Conference of the 22nd International Workshop on Software Measurement and the 2012 Seventh International Conference on Software Process and Product Measurement (IWSM-MENSURA), pp. 170–177 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Abran, A., Desharnais, J.-M., Aziz, F.: Measurement convertibility – from function points to COSMIC-FFP. In: Proceeding of the 15th International Workshop on Software Measurement (IWSM), pp. 227–240 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Desharnais, J.-M., Abran, A., Cuadrado-Gallego, J.: Convertibility of function points to COSMIC-FFP: identification and analysis of functional outliers. In: International Conference on Software Process and Product Measurement (MENSURA) (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Heeringen, H.V.: Changing from FPA to COSMIC – a transition framework. In: Proceedings Software Measurement European Forum (SMFE) (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Cuadrado-Gallego, J.J., Buglione, L., Rejas-Muslera, R.J., Machado-Piriz, F.: IFPUG-COSMIC statistical conversion. In: EUROMICRO 2008 - Proceedings of the 34th EUROMICRO Conference on Software Engineering and Advanced Applications, SEAA 2008, pp. 427–432 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Abualkishik, A.Z., Ferrucci, F., Carmine, G., Lavazza, L., Liu, G., Meli, R., Robiolo, G.: A study on the statistical convertibility of IFPUG function point, COSMIC function point and simple function point. J. Inf. Softw. Technol. 86, 1–19 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Abualkishik, A.Z., Selamat, M.H., Ghani, A.A.A., Atan, R., Desharnais, J.M., Khelifi, A.: A convertibility study on the conversion between FPA and COSMIC for real time systems. In: Proceedings of the 2012 Joint Conference of the 22nd International Workshop on Software Measurement and the 2012 7th International Conference on Software Process and Product Measurement, IWSM-MENSURA 2012, pp. 143–149 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Cuadrado-Gallego, J.J., Machado-Piriz, F., Aroba-Páez, J.: On the conversion between IFPUG and COSMIC software functional size units: a theoretical and empirical study. J. Syst. Softw. 81(5), 661–672 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Abualkishik, A.Z., Selamat, M.H., Ghani, A.A.A., Atan, R., Desharnais, J.M., Khelifi, A.: Theoretical and probabilistic conversion model between FPA and COSMIC measurement method. In: 2012 Joint Conference of the 22nd International Workshop on Software Measurement and the 2012 Seventh International Conference on Software Process and Product Measurement, pp. 150–159 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Lavazza, L.: Convertibility of functional size measurements. In: Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Predictor Models in Software Engineering - PROMISE ’09, p. 1 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Lavazza, L., Morasca, S.: Convertibility of function points into COSMIC function points: a study using piecewise linear regression. Inf. Softw. Technol. 53(8), 874–884 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Lavazza, L.: A systematic approach to the analysis of function point – COSMIC convertibility. In: International Workshop on Software Measurement, ICSM/Mensura (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Lavazza, L., Morasca, S.: A study of non-linearity in the statistical convertibility of function points into COSMIC function points. In: Proceedings of the Workshop on Advances in Functional Size Measurement and Effort Estimation - FSM ’10, pp. 1–8 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Abualkishik, A.Z., Desharnais, J.-M., Khelifi, A., Ghani, A.A.A., Atan, R., Selamat, M.H.: An exploratory study on the accuracy of FPA to COSMIC measurement method conversion types. Inf. Softw. Technol. 54(11), 1250–1264 (Nov 2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Fetcke, T.: The warehouse software portfolio a case study in functional size measurement, 1999/2000. Technical Report No. 1999–20, Département d’informatique, Universitédu Quebec à Montr é al, Canada

    Google Scholar 

  26. International Function Point User Group (IFPUG): Function Point Counting Practices Manual, Release 4.3.1, ISBN: 978-0-9753783-4-2 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Miles, C., Shevlin, M.: Applying regression and correlation: a guide for students and researchers. SAGE, London (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Kitchenham, B., Pickard, L.M., MacDonell, S.G., Shepperd, M.J.: What accuracy statistics really measure. IEE Proc. - Softw. 148(3), 81 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Kitchenham, B., Kitchenham, B., Mendes, E., Mendes, E.: Why comparative effort prediction studies may be invalid. Proc. 5th Int. Conf. Predict. Model. Softw. Eng. 1, 1–5 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abedallah Zaid Abualkishik .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Abualkishik, A.Z. (2019). A Review Study on the Accuracy of Conversion Between IFPUG FPA and COSMIC Function Points. In: Al-Masri, A., Curran, K. (eds) Smart Technologies and Innovation for a Sustainable Future. Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01659-3_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics