Work out cocomo effort estimate instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.
COCOMO estimates effort as a x KLOC^b multiplied by an adjustment factor, with mode-specific coefficients: organic uses 2.4 and 1.05, semi-detached 3.0 and 1.12, embedded 3.6 and 1.20. Because the exponent exceeds 1, effort grows super-linearly with size — doubling the code more than doubles the work, which is the quantitative case for smaller systems.
Basic COCOMO
effort = a x KLOC^b x EAF person-months; duration = 2.5 x effort^d months; staff = effort / duration
As a sanity check on order of magnitude and on the diseconomy of scale, yes. As a predictive tool for iterative delivery it has largely been replaced by empirical velocity measurement.
The duration formula grows with effort at only the 0.35 power, reflecting Brooks's observation that adding people to a late project makes it later.