Optimizing Deep Learning Model for Software Cost Estimation Using Hybrid Meta-Heuristic Algorithmic Approach

Abstract

Effective software cost estimation significantly contributes to decision-making. The rising trend of using nature-inspired meta-heuristic algorithms has been seen in software cost estimation problems. The constructive cost model (COCOMO) method is a well-known regression-based algorithmic technique for estimating software costs. The limitation of the COCOMO models is that the values of these coefficients are constant for similar kinds of projects whereas, in reality, these parameters vary from one organization to another organization. Therefore, for accurate estimation, it is necessary to fine-tune the coefficients. The research community is now examining deep learning (DL) as a forward-looking solution to improve cost estimation. Although deep learning architectures provide some improvements over existing flat technologies, they also have some shortcomings, such as large training delays, over-fitting, and under-fitting. Deep learning models usually require fine-tuning to a large number of parameters. The meta-heuristic algorithm supports finding a good optimal solution at a reasonable computational cost. Additionally, heuristic approaches allow for the location of an optimum solution. So, it can be used with deep neural networks to minimize training delays. The hybrid of ant colony optimization with BAT (HACO-BA) algorithm is a hybrid optimization technique that combines the most common global optimum search technique for ant colonies (ACO) in association with one of the newest search techniques called the BAT algorithm (BA). This technology supports the solution of multivariable problems and has been applied to the optimization of a large number of engineering problems. This work will perform a two-fold assessment of algorithms: (i) comparing the efficacy of ACO, BA, and HACO-BA in optimizing COCOMO II coefficients; and (ii) using HACO-BA algorithms to optimize and improve the deep learning training process. The experimental results show that the hybrid HACO-BA performs better as compared to ACO and BA for tuning COCOMO II. HACO-BA also performs better in the optimization of DNN in terms of execution time and accuracy. The process is executed upto 100 epochs, and the accuracy achieved by the proposed DNN approach is almost 98% while NN achieved accuracy of up to 85% on the same datasets.