A key aspect of programming in practice is the reliable estimation of size, time and effort. It seems like most people that are good at estimating do so by partitioning the problem into smaller pieces that can be handled more easily. Then, final estimates are accomplished by combining the pieces. This procedure is certainly what engineering approaches teach and I think other approaches as well.
But I haven't been able to find much empirical data suggesting that software estimation done by partitioning is superior to that done more "wholistically". I assume that I am missing something huge and obvious since partitioning is such an important cognitive tool (and has been for such a long time). But, I haven't found empirical references yet Can anybody direct me to references on this topic. Thanks very much Dr. Allen Milewski Department of Software Engineering Monmouth University [EMAIL PROTECTED] --
