A few days back, I was discussing Agile Timeboxing and estimation with some developers. What follows are some suggestions I gave them and thoughts that emerged from the suggestions. In the examples I have used to explain certain points, I have assumed a J2EE application which has a database, an entity layer, an application layer, Struts Action classes, and JSP's. The concepts can be extrapolated into any other type of application as well. Given a requirement we should be able to determine the amount of time it will take us to fulfill it. This is much easier said than done. Some reasons why we are not able to come up with accurate estimates are: Lack of familiarity with the code base Overestimating our capabilities Underestimating the amount of work needed to be done and it's potential ripple effects Working with gut feel without a proper process to identify the work that needs to be done In this post I will focus on a process that can be used to identify the...
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