An Overview of Machine Learning Approaches to Software Development Cost Estimation

Software cost estimation still presents a real challenge to software development firms and practitioners. One of the crucial activities in project management is software cost estimation. The accuracy of the estimated cost has a critical impact on the project’s success or failure. Overestimation and underestimation are serious challenges to project managers, especially in today’s competitive marketplace. Inaccurate estimation may lead to over budget, missing deadlines, business loss, and even project failure. The precise cost estimation will enable the project manager to forecast and allocate the necessary resources to deliver a successful product. Many researchers have published research papers in this area. In this paper, the study’s goal is to outline the recent machine learning approaches to software cost estimation. The study will address the problems with conventional cost estimation models and provide a comprehensive review of the researches regarding software cost estimation with machine learning. The current study will discuss the intelligence models for software cost estimation and highlight the models that excel in this area.