Simple function points for effort estimation: A further assessment

Simple Function Points were proposed as a lightweight alternative to standard Function Points. The idea at the base of the definition of Simple Function Points is that it is possible to get equally effective size measures even without considering fine-grained details of functional specifications. Skipping the analysis and measurement of such details should allow for saving time and effort when measuring the functional size of software. In a previous study, the Simple Function Point method was employed to size software applications included in the ISBSG repository, thus employing data from different companies. In this paper, we aim at getting further evidence of the qualities of Simple Function Points via the empirical study of 25 Web applications developed by a single software company. The study highlights the correlation between Simple Function Points and standard Function Points measures and the existence of a significant model that guarantees the convertibility between Simple Function Points and standard Function Points. Furthermore, our analysis shows that the two measures provide predictions of the effort to develop Web applications that are equally accurate. Thus, our results confirm the empirical evidence provided by the original investigation, highlighting that Simple Function Points appear essentially equivalent to Function Points, except that they require a much simpler measurement process.