431 Project Plan

Elaborate the project plan based on the identified use cases. The outline in [1], although it does not include use cases, can be a starting point. Other ideas can be obtained from the IEEE standards for software project management plans[2]. Also, some templates can be obtained from Rational RequisitePro.

• Project estimates. Although we are following the "Deliverables" schedule, plan the development of your project based on your estimates and in the frame of a semester. Project estimates can be obtained using use case points or other techniques that are based primarily on the Number of Lines of Code (NLOC) software metric.
  
  + Use the Use Case Points approach to estimate the effort (man-hours) needed to develop your project. Are we going to have time to do all?
  + Clearly mark your estimated effort, e.g.:
  

  Man-hours: 215.3424 × 20 = 4306.848

  + Prioritize your use cases and schedule accordingly. Valtech's Chapter 5 includes information on how to rank and schedule your use cases.
  + Include your calculations in the Appendix or in a separate document. If the latter, cross reference it.
  

• List the types of questions to be supported and the implied calculations (Statistics). Rank your questions based on their complexity and importance. Decide which ones will be implemented first. Include this in the Appendix or in a separate document. Again, if so, cross reference it in the Project Plan.
• Include a Gantt chart.
• Although at this point we are in the requirements stage and we want to avoid any early design commitments, list the (most probable) software/hardware to be used to develop this project. These may change later. Include software development tools, communication tools, etc. The idea is to point out what is needed to successfully develop your project. Will I be needing an Apache server?, .NET development environment?, etc.
• Hardcopy is required, in addition to posting your document in your Team Web site.

Tool

• Microsoft Project

References

[1] Pressman, R. S., Software Engineering a Practitioner's Approach.
[2] IEEE standard for software project management plans, IEEE Std 1058.1-1987 , 31 Aug. 1988.