A Fresh Look at Software Project Estimation: Part I -- Promises Impossible to Keep

by E.M. Bennatan

Software estimation is an area where more promises have been broken than in any other area of software development. But like addicts, we keep demanding promises because we need them to survive. As managers, there is a limit to what we can reasonably expect from software estimation, and when we cross that limit, we are, in effect, asking for short-term satisfaction in the form of promises that will not be kept.