The measurement theory for software engineering

Metrology is one of the driving forces to the development and maturity of engineering disciplines. Measurement and metrics play an important rule in software engineering. This paper explores the fundamental theories for engineering measurement and their applications in software engineering. An axiom-based measurement theory is presented, and a generic measurement methodology is explored. The relational measurement theories for software engineering, particularly the relation-based empirical and formal measurement systems, are systematically developed. This paper demonstrates that a software measurement system can be described by an algebraic system, therefore new measures may be derived based on a core set of meta measures.