Part of the terminology that deals with users and requirements has overlap with similar terms in software engineering.
As a consequence of measuring the size, the method can be used to establish benchmarks of (and subsequent estimates) regarding the effort, cost, quality and duration of software work.
It may be used to estimate (and benchmark) software project effort, cost, duration, quality and maintenance work.
[8][9] The foundation of the method is the ISO/IEC 19761 standard, which contains the definitions and basic principles that are described in more detail in the COSMIC measurement manual.
Legally COSMIC is an incorporated not for profit organization under Canadian law.
The first generation functional size measurement methods consisted of rules that are based on empirical results.