Another different approach for effort estimation is the bottom up approach.

In this approach, the project is first divided into tas s and then the estimates fo r the different tas s of the project are obtained. From the estimates of the dif ferent tas s the overall estimate is determined. This type of approach is also called as activity based estimation. The bottom-up approach lends itself to direct estimation of effort Once the proje ct is partitioned into smaller tas s, it is possible to directly estimate the ef fort required for them if the tas s are small. A ris of bottom-up approach is that if anyone can omit some important activity. If the architecture of the system has been designed and if past information abou t how effort is distributed over different phases is nown, then the bottom-up a pproach IN this approach the major programs or modules to be developed are first determi ned and the program unit is then classified as simple, medium or complex based o n certain criteria. For each unit an average effort for coding is decided. This standard coding effo rt can be based on past data from the similar project, from some guidelines. The procedure for estimation can be summarized as the following sequence of step s: 1. Identify modules in the system and classify them as simple, medium or c omplex. 2. Determine the average coding effort for simple/medium/ complex modules. 3. Using the effort distribution for similar projects, estimate the effort for other tas s and the total effort. Reply to: