The merits of function point analysis are discussed. Function point analysis was chosen because it is one of the most widely used aids for software cost estimation. In the analysis we use data from a large survey of Dutch organizations, from an experiment on the effectiveness of software cost estimation models and from a field study aimed at the adjustment part of the FPA model. Conclusions show that it is indeed widely used and that it performs reasonably well as a product sizer, but that the adjustment part of the model is less useful.