Forecasting the cost to write and produce software has been transformed from an art into largely a science through a methodology called function point analysis.  Function point analysis measures the flow of data through the software application; based on this measurement the cost to develop software can be quantitatively forecast.  Years of experience with function points has shown it to be robust.  Yet, one wonders if a complementary software metric could be developed and used along with function points to measure aspects of the software that function points do not measure, to further improve the quality of software development cost forecasting (and other software metrics).

One proposed metric is from the “Software Non-functional Assessment Process” (SNAP).  The International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG), through its IT Performance Committee, SNAP Project Team, developed a procedure for sizing the non-functional requirements of the assessed application, presented in the SNAP “Assessment Practices Manual,” [IFPUG, 2012] now in version 2.0.  During August and September 2012, a beta test was conducted to measure the effectiveness of SNAP.  The purpose of this presentation is to share the results of this beta test.  We will discuss --

• What function points are.
• What SNAP is.
• Why SNAP may be important.
• How the beta test was conducted.
• What the results were.
• Areas for future research.

REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE   

    IFPUG maintains arguably the most widely used functional software sizing metric in the world, the IFPUG “function point.”*  This metric is internationally recognized as ISO standard ISO/IEC 20926:2009.

    A function point is like a “chunk” of software.  It is similar in concept to 
         - a “square foot” of house size        - a “kilometer” of distance
           - a “gallon” of gasoline                    - a “degree Kelvin” of temperature

* In this presentation, we always refer to the IFPUG “unadjusted” function point.

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