Back Cover

Unlike other books that focus exclusively on the science of estimation—including rigid modeling techniques and continuous feedback loops that are not cost effective to most organizations—this unique guide offers practical, tested, hands-on advice for estimating software development costs in the real world. It is written by the award-winning author of Code Complete.

Key Book Benefits:

• Delivers practical insights about a critical subject too-often obscured by academic jargon
• Two-color graphics present mathematical information in an easy-to-understand format
• Provides specific practices that can be used immediately by any software development organization
• Features numerous, to-the-point tips about the estimation process, as well as individual steps to creating successful estimates

About the Author

Steve McConnell is Chief Software Engineer at Construx Software where he oversees Construx's software engineering practices. Steve is the lead for the Construction Knowledge Area of the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) project. Steve has worked on software projects at Microsoft, Boeing, and other Seattle-area companies. Steve was the lead developer of Construx Estimate and of SPC Estimate Professional, winner of a Software Development magazine Productivity Award.

Steve is the author of Rapid Development (1996), Software Project Survival Guide (1998), Professional Software Development (2004) and Code Complete, Second Edition (2004). His books have twice won Software Development magazine's Jolt Product Excellence Award for outstanding software development book of the year. Steve was also the lead developer of SPC Estimate Professional, winner of a Software Development Productivity award. In 1998, readers of Software Development magazine named Steve one of the three most influential people in the software industry, along with Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds.

Steve earned a Bachelor's degree from Whitman College and a Master's degree in software engineering from Seattle University. He lives in Bellevue, Washington.