A metrics suite for object oriented design
Chidamber, S.R.; Kemerer, C.F.
Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on
Volume 20, Issue 6, Jun 1994 Page(s):476 - 493
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/32.295895
Summary:Given the central role that software development plays in the
delivery and application of information technology, managers are
increasingly focusing on process improvement in the software development
area. This demand has spurred the provision of a number of new and/or
improved approaches to software development, with perhaps the most
prominent being object-orientation (OO). In addition, the focus on
process improvement has increased the demand for software measures, or
metrics with which to manage the process. The need for such metrics is
particularly acute when an organization is adopting a new technology for
which established practices have yet to be developed. This research
addresses these needs through the development and implementation of a
new suite of metrics for OO design. Metrics developed in previous
research, while contributing to the field's understanding of software
development processes, have generally been subject to serious
criticisms, including the lack of a theoretical base. Following Wand and
Weber (1989), the theoretical base chosen for the metrics was the
ontology of Bunge (1977). Six design metrics are developed, and then
analytically evaluated against Weyuker's (1988) proposed set of
measurement principles. An automated data collection tool was then
developed and implemented to collect an empirical sample of these
metrics at two field sites in order to demonstrate their feasibility and
suggest ways in which managers may use these metrics for process
improvement
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