Using a Personal Software Process/sup SM/ to improve performance

The use of software measurement and process definition by individual engineers is embodied in the Personal Software Process (PSP)/sup SM/, a collection of techniques and guidelines for individual software engineers to use in building software. This paper presents a brief overview of the PSP and summarizes data collected by engineers in order to illustrate the efficacy of the PSP. Implications for the use of methods associated with statistical process control are discussed, and the power of rigorous data collection by individual software engineers is highlighted through discussion of empirical data.