The cost of software development is one of the fastest growing and most difficult activities to estimate. Cost estimators make time-phase charts and learning curves. Using this information, they find out how much work it would take to make a certain number of units. The cost of labor is added to other factors for waste, overhead, and profit. This gives a total of how much the unit would cost to make.
Cost estimating involves difficult math problems and requires advanced mathematical techniques.
Mainly, computers help estimators with calculations. Computers are also used to produce all of the necessary paperwork. This leaves estimators more time to study projects and can lead to more accurate estimates. Cost Estimators is in the Engineering, Science, and Technologies Career Cluster.