Abstract: The present invention is a method for estimating software operation and performance measures using a goal/question/metric paradigm. In the present invention, each goal is associated with questions and metrics and stored to memory as a tree. The nodes in the tree are then interconnected in accordance with boolean logic relationships. A minimal path is determined through the tree. Probabilities are then assigned to each node and used in assigning an overall probability to the top node or goal. A percentage contribution to the overall probability is then assigned to each node. The probabilities, minimal path and percentage contributions are then used in determing an action plan to use during development of the software to ensure software operation and performance accordingly.