Which of the following statements is TRUE regarding the COCOMO?

Concept

COCOMO (COnstructive COst MOdel) is an algorithmic software cost-estimation model proposed by Barry Boehm. It estimates the effort, schedule and cost of a software project as a function of the estimated program size, measured in KLOC (thousands of lines of code). It comes in three progressively detailed forms: Basic, Intermediate and Detailed.

Application

Basic COCOMO produces a rough effort estimate from size alone. The Intermediate form improves accuracy by multiplying the nominal effort by 15 cost drivers (effort multipliers) that capture product, hardware, personnel and project attributes. So the true statement is the one that says Intermediate COCOMO refines software effort estimation using cost drivers, because that is exactly the mechanism the Intermediate form adds.

Why the other statements are wrong

• Claiming COCOMO completely ignores hardware and personnel factors is false: representing precisely those factors as cost drivers is the whole reason the Intermediate and Detailed forms exist.

• It is a parametric cost-estimation model, not a tool for managing Agile sprint backlogs or Scrum cycles.

• It estimates effort, time and cost from size; it does not measure software quality through normalization and dependency analysis.

• It has nothing to do with real-time packet scheduling in operating systems.

Cross-check

Effort in person-months is E = a x (KLOC)b x EAF, where the Effort Adjustment Factor (EAF) is the product of the cost drivers. Setting EAF = 1 collapses Intermediate COCOMO back to the Basic model, confirming that the cost drivers are exactly what the Intermediate form adds to sharpen the estimate.