Towards a methodology to estimate cost of object-oriented software development projects

. Successful management of a software project, besides a well-defined project development process, requires an early estimate ofproject complexity. In a prevailing practice, software development costs usually ,have ,been ,determined ,a posteriori, i.e. after software project implementation. It is essential, however, to know this estimate a priori, i.e., before commencement of works. This paper presents,an attempt,to construct a methodology,that would,enable,an early,estimate ,of software ,development ,cost and ,its refinements during,subsequent ,development ,phases. ,The methodology ,assumes an object-oriented approach,based,on the Unified Modeling,Language (UML) and ,Unified ,Software ,Development ,Process ,(USDP). It outlines an Use Case Driven, Architecture-Centric, Iterative and Incremental,estimate ,process ,that ,could ,significantly ,improve ,and simplify,early ,cost ,estimates. ,The ,presented ,methodology ,is illustrated on example,of the POSTsoftware,development,project.