ITPEC FE Morning October 2023 Question 53

When the number of programs composing the system and the number of person-days required for coding per program are as shown in the table below, what is the minimum number of staff members required to develop the system in 95 days? Here, in addition to coding, the activities of design and testing are also necessary to develop the system, and those activities require eight times as many person-days as coding.

 Number of programsNumber of person-days requiredfor coding per program
Input processing201
Output processing103
Calculation processing59

Explanation

9 staff members — total effort is the coding effort plus eight times that for design and testing, spread over 95 days.

  • •Coding: 20 × 1 + 10 × 3 + 5 × 9 = 20 + 30 + 45 = 95 person-days
  • •Design and testing: 95 × 8 = 760 person-days
  • •Total: 95 + 760 = 855 person-days, that is 95 × 9
  • •Staff: 855 ÷ 95 = 9 people

Answer (b)

Why not others:

  • •(a) 8 — 760 ÷ 95: covers design and testing only and leaves the coding itself out
  • •(c) 12 and (d) 13 — more than the minimum; 12 people over 95 days supply 1,140 person-days against the 855 required, and the question asks for the fewest staff

Key rule: "Eight times as many as coding" is added on top of coding, so the total is nine times the coding effort; then divide by the available days and round up.

Project Management · AI-written, may contain errors

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