Analyzing medium-scale software development

The collection and analysis of data from programming projects is necessary for the appropriate evaluation of software engineering methodologies. Towards this end, the Software Engineering Laboratory was organized between the University of Maryland and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. This paper describes the structure of the Laboratory and provides some data on project evaluation from some of the early projects that have been monitored. The analysis relates to resource forecasting using a model of the project life cycle based upon the Rayleigh equation and to error rates applying ideas developed by Belady and Lehman.