Challenges of using software size in agile software development: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Software size is a fundamental measure for software management. Size is used for a variety of purposes, such as benchmarking, normalization, and portfolio measurement, and it is frequently considered as the sole input of estimation. Estimations can be produced for various reasons; e.g., to predict effort, cost and duration of software development projects. There are different types of software size measures. Particularly in projects where agile methodologies are adopted, measurement becomes a significant challenge as it is perceived as a non-value-added task and records of tasks such as requirements identification are not always consistent. The difficulties of applying traditional size measurement techniques in agile contexts, however, do not diminish the need, and new methods and techniques are introduced to improve the manageability of the agile projects. In this paper, we discuss estimation and measurement approaches in relation with ―software size in agile contexts. Based on this review, we present the perceptions of software size and related challenges, such as misinterpretation of size, difficulties in implementation, and acceptability of the measurement processes. We anticipate that providing a baseline for the state of software size measures in agile contexts and presenting related challenges, particularly in terms of its acceptability by practitioners can shed light on the development of new techniques.