The field of software‐development effort estimation explores ways of defining effort through
prediction approaches. Even though this field has a crucial impact on budgeting and project
planning in industry, the number of works classifying and examining currently available
approaches is still small. This article, therefore, presents a comprehensive overview of these
approaches, and pinpoints research gaps, challenges and trends. A systematic mapping of
the literature was designed and performed based on well‐established practical guidelines …

Context: The field of software-development effort estimation explores ways of defining effort
through prediction approaches. Even though this field has a crucial impact on budgeting and
project planning in industry, the number of works classifying and examining currently
available approaches is still small. Objective: This article, therefore, presents a
comprehensive overview of these approaches, and pinpoints research gaps, challenges,
and trends. Method: A systematic mapping of the literature was designed and performed …