Introduction to the Personal Software Process

10 The Project Plan

This chapter extends the discussion of product planning to include time estimating. The Project Plan Summary form is introduced for recording both estimated and actual program size and development time. For the assignment, you will produce a project plan for the next program you write.

10.1 The Need for Project Plans

The project plan defines the work and how it will be done. It provides a definition of each major task, an estimate of the time and resources required, and a framework for management review and control. The project plan is also a powerful learning vehicle. When properly documented, it is a benchmark to compare with actual performance. This comparison permits the planners to see their estimating errors and to ...