Question Bank SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT

BRANCH: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYSEMESTER: VI

UNIT 1

1. Define software project management. Describe the software project management cycle in detail with suitable diagrams.

2. What do you mean by function points (FP)? Why FP is becoming acceptable in industry? Also compute the function point value for a project with the following information domain characteristics:Number of user inputs =30Number of user outputs=42Number of user enquiries=08Number of files=07Number of external interfaces=06Assume that all complexity adjustments values are moderate.

3. Write short note on the COCOMO Model.4. How planning for a software project is different from planning for any other engineering

project?5. Explain, in brief, about the characteristics of project.

6. Define the 'triple constraint' of project with the help of an example.7. What are the required knowledge areas of project management?8. Differentiate between Information system and embedded systems.9. How are software projects different from other types of projects?10. Draw up a Product Flow Diagram of any word processing application

software.11. W h a t i s P r o j e c t ? W h a t i s P r o j e c t Management?12. What are the challenges and problems faced by a project manager?13. W h a t i s t h e r e q u i r e m e n t o f h a v i n g a stepwise project planning?14. What do you mean by Product Flow Diagram? How does it help in

project planning?15. Draw up a Product Breakdown Structure of any word-processing

application software.16. Explain project control cycle, with example, in brief.17. What do you mean by Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in context to software project

and product? Discuss with examples.18. End users demands are the source of most software project. Justify this statement. Also

give various steps of a software project plan.

19. It has been said that the design can not be directed by technical experts alone. Do you agree with this statement? Write in detail to support your views.

20. Give various responsibilities of a Project Manager along with structure of personnel organization.

21. Explain various problems with software projects in detail.22. Explain various activities covered by software project management.23. Write down the Outline of stepwise planning activities.24. What is resource allocation? Explain.25. What do you mean by the term project infrastructure? Explain how to identify the same.26. What are activity risks? How it can be identified and quantified? Explain.27. Explain various activities covered by Software Project Management in short.28. Differentiate between strategic assessment and technical assessment.29. Explain software effort estimation techniques in detail.30. In reference to project planning define the term milestones and deliverables.31. Write a short note on Rapid application development.32. What is scope of a project? Explain with explain.33. What is stepwise project planning? Explain.34. Discuss various types of software projects.35. Explain milestone and deliverables in reference to project planning.36. Explain v-process model in detail.37. Compare the basic features of waterfall model, spiral model and prototype model.38. Give a complete software project management cycle with brief description of its every

individual activity39. Write down structure of a Software project plan and discuss its various components in

brief. What are various types of software project plan?40. Planning is the most important activity in the overall software project management

comment on this statement.

UNIT 2

1. Describe the following with example and also give the significance of each(i) PERT(ii) CPM

2. What is the difference between the milestone chart and Gantt chart? Discuss.3. Discuss various steps to select software project team.4. What is motivation? Describe some models of motivation.5. How to build a project schedule? Explain.6. E x p l a i n w h y d i s c o u n t e d c a s h fl o w techniques provide better criteria for

project s e l e c ti o n t h a n n e t p r o fi t o r r e t u r n o n investment.

7. Explain the following terms with an example related to software project (i)Programme Management (ii)Portfolio Management

8. Explain how risk evaluation is done during the software project planning phase.

9. What are the typical issues and questions that should be considered during strategic assessment of any project?

10. Explain, in brief, about the discounted cash flow techniques.11. How is V-process model different from waterfall model?12. What do you mean by Prototypes? Classify Prototypes.13. H o w d o e s t h e r a p i d a p p l i c a ti o n development adopt the

tactics such as joint application development?14. Explain, in brief, about cash flow forecasting with an example.15. What is Cost-benefit analysis? Explain in-detail.16. What do you mean by strategic assessment? Explain.17. Explain the term risk evaluation in detail.18. Explain Waterfall model in detail.19. What is software prototyping? Explain in short.20. Explain return on investment and payback period with example.21. It seems odd that cost and schedule estimates are developed during software’s project

planning before detailed software requirement analysis or design has been conducted. Why do you think that this is to be done? Are there circumstances when it should not be done? What is cash now forecasting?

22. Discuss cost benefit analysis in details. What are the following terms : (i) Net profit value(ii) Return on investment (iii) Pay-back period.

23. Provide at least five examples of software development projects that would require prototyping. Name two or three applications that would be more difficult to prototype.

24. Explain various problems encountered with software projects.25. Explain cost-benefit analysis.26. Explain COCOMO in short.27. Discuss the graphical notations which are used to illustrate the project schedule.28. Discuss the project feasibility with an example.29. What is a project schedule? Explain by giving a suitable example.30. Draw hierarchical organization of various project elements and discuss each element in

brief giving examples.31. What are the various techniques for visualizing progress of a project? Discuss Earn value

analysis. How it is different from cost monitoring.32. Discuss various types of software reviews in brief?

UNIT 3

1. What is meant by earned value analysis and earned value indicators? What is the significance of these? Discuss various earned value indicators with examples.

2. What do you mean by error tracking? Explain with examples. Does it affect the SPM schedule?

3. Write a short note on pair programming.4. What do you mean by the software reviews? How software review is

carried out? Discuss any two software review methods.5. Explain estimation by analogy and function po int ana lys i s wi th

the i r benefits to the users.6. Explain, in detail, about COCOMO-II with their advantages over

COCOMO-I.7. What are the character istics of Project Manager, Project Leader and the

Support (software specialist) Persons?8. What are the problems with overestimates and underestimates of any software

project? Also explain the basis for software project estimation.9. Explain Constructive Cost Model. What are the intermediate cost drivers of this

model?10. What is PERT/CPM? Explain the difference between Critical Path Analysis and Critical

Chain Scheduling.11. Discuss the role of cost estimation in a software development project. Briefly explain

COCOMO model for cost estimation for all category of projects.12. Describe the function point analysis. How function points are used in estimation of cost

and efforts using decomposition technique.13. Is the critical path important if only one person is working on a software project?

Discuss the concept of PERT/CPM in defining an optimal schedule.14. Explain COCOMO in detail.15. Explain function point analysis in detail.16. What do you mean by projects and activities?17. Explain various approaches to identify the activities.18. Explain requirement elicitation in detail.19. What is Pay back period and Return on investment? Explain with suitable example.20. Differentiate between CPM and PERT with suitable example.21. Describe how adding personnel to a project that is behind schedule might lag the project.22. What do you mean by case flow forecasting?23. Explain cash flow forecasting in detail.24. What is rapid application development? Explain in detail.25. Explain Cocomo in detail.26. Explain the term “scheduling resources” in detail.27. Write down various components and their content in the vision and scope document of

a project.28. What is cost benefit analysis? In context to cost benefit analysis , define the following

terms precisely :-

29. The status of cash flow for four projects is given in the following table. (Negative figures at the end of year 0 represent initial investment) :-

On the basis of this data, calculate various terms (a) above. You may assume discount rate to be as 10%.

(i) What is the cost variance, schedule variance, Cost performance index (CPI), and schedule performance index (SPI) for the project?

(ii) Use the CPI to calculate the estimate at completion (EAC) for this project. Is the project performing better or worse than planned?

UNIT 4

1. What is the difference between white box and black box testing? Is determining test cases easier for black box testing or white box testing? Discuss with some example. Is it correct to claim that if white box testing is done properly, it will achieve close to 100% path coverage? Explain.

2. Is unit testing possible or even desirable in all circumstances? Justify your answer with suitable example.

3. Differentiate between alpha testing and beta testing.

4. What do you mean by software quality? Explain. Discuss various software quality metrics and indicators.

5. What are the potential r i sk conditio ns associated with each required knowledge areas? Explain with an example.

6. Categories the required nature of resources and explain. How is the cost monitored?

7. Discuss the most common Quality Criteria Attributes for software projects and explain any one of them.

8. What are the factors which affect the risk identification procedure of any software project?

9. What is Contract Management? Explain the types of contract management with their advantages in respect to software project.

10. Three different mental obstacles to good decision-making identified in the text faulty heuristics, escalation of commitment and information overload. What steps, do you think, can be taken to reduce the danger of each of these?

11. Define nature of risk and then explain risk engineering in detail.12. Explain various types of contracts in detail.13. Describe the following:

(i) Contract Management(ii) Human Resource Management

14. Risk management is the area that tries to ensure that the impact of risk on cost, quality and schedule be minimal. Justify the statement.

15. What is decision tree analysis in context to Risk Management?16. List and discuss some of the points specific for identifying the risks during software

development. Also give some of the category of Risks that are to be identified.17 As size is the main factor determining the cost of a project, an accurate size can be used

to estimate the cost and schedule of the software project. Give your view in favor and in against of the statement. Also write ill brief about Contract Management and Human Resource Management.

18 Write down the outline of stepwise planning activities.19 Discuss SEI process Capability Maturity Model in detail.20 What is prototyping process model? When it is used.21 Explain the term project scope with a suitable example.22 What are various software measurement metrics? Explain any of them in detail with

example.23 What is technical assessment? Explain how it is different from strategic assessment in

detail.24 Explain software quality assurance and also discuss the various software quality

assurance activities.25 Discuss SEI process capability maturity model in detail.26 Explain the following :

(i) Product quality management(ii) ISO 9126 standard

27. How are the risks evaluated? Discuss the Decision tree analysis method for risk evaluation.

28. Discuss COCOMO hierarchy of estimation models in details. How these models differ from the dynamic estimation models.

29. Discuss SEI capability maturity model.30. Define Software quality. Give a list of various software quality attributes / factors.

UNIT 5

1. Discuss the role of change request management in software project management.2. What do you mean by risk? Is it always necessary to identify the risks in a software

project? Explain.3. Describe the following with example:

(i) Baselines(ii) Risk management process.

4. Write short notes on the following:-(i) Role of SCM in SPM

(ii) CASE Tools.5. E x p l a i n t h e f o l l o w i n g t e r m s w i t h examples :

(i) ISO 9126 standards ii) SEI-CMM model6. "Software testing should be the part of software quality assurance."

Justify the statement.7. Write short notes on the following:

(i) Product Quality Management (ii) Process Quality Management8. Define Software Quality. Write down the different quality factors with

brief explanation.9. What are the techniques to help enhance software quality? Explain in detail.10. Discuss about software quality factors and attributes.11. Develop your own metrics for Correctness, maintainability, integrity and usability of

software. What is Statistical Quality Assurance (SQA)?12. Write a short note on SEI Capability Maturity Model (CMM). How does it differ from ISO

9000?13. Explain SEI process CMM in detail.14. Define the following:

(i) ISO 9126 Standard(ii) Product Quality Management

15. Explain software quality assurance in detail16. Explain various activities covered by software project management.17. Explain any one cost benefit evaluation technique with suitable example.18. Differentiate between known risk and predictable risks and explain what a risk driver is.19. Describe the following :

(i) Contract management

(ii) Human resource management