A company needs to develop a strategy for software product development for…
2011
A company needs to develop a strategy for software product development for which it has a choice of two programming languages L1 and L2. The number lines of code (LOC) developed using L2 is estimated to be twice of the LOC developed with L1. The product will have to be maintained for five years. Various parameters for the company are given in the table below.
Total cost of the project includes cost of development and maintenance. What is the LOC for L1 for which of the cost of the project using L1 is equal to the cost of the project using L2?
- A.
4000
- B.
5000
- C.
4333
- D.
4667
Attempted by 145 students.
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Correct answer: B
Let x be the LOC developed with the first language. Then the LOC for the second language is 2x.
Man-years for development: first language = x / 10000; second language = 2x / 10000.
Development cost = man-years × cost per man-year. First language development cost = (x/10000) × 1,000,000 = 100x. Second language development cost = (2x/10000) × 750,000 = 150x.
Maintenance cost over 5 years: first = 5 × 100,000 = 500,000; second = 5 × 50,000 = 250,000.
Total cost expressions: first total = 100x + 500,000. Second total = 150x + 250,000.
Set the total costs equal and solve:
100x + 500,000 = 150x + 250,000 → 250,000 = 50x → x = 5,000.
Verification: for x = 5,000, first total = 100*5000 + 500,000 = 1,000,000 and second total = 150*5000 + 250,000 = 1,000,000, so the totals match.
Answer: 5,000 LOC for the first language.