An exploratory study on functional size measurement based on code

Abstract

In this paper we explore opportunities, challenges, and obstacles that Functional Size Measurement (FSM) experts assume to be in automatically derived functional size, directly from the software project code itself. We designed a structured survey, that was answered by 336 FSM specialists. A majority of the respondents consider FSM to be an important tool for decision making. No indications are found for any perceived impact of agile methodology on the difficulty of applying FSM. Respondents overall think of automated FSM as important, but also difficult to realize. 54% of the respondents think that automated FSM will help measurement specialists, while 44% thinks that it will help decision makers too. The most preferred FSM method for automation is COSMIC (25%), followed by IFPUG (21%) and Nesma (16%). Respondents perceive automated FSM to be most suitable for baselining, benchmarking, and maintenance and legacy purposes. CCS Concepts • General and reference ➝ Cross-computing tools and techniques ➝ Measurement.

The effects of perceived value and stakeholder satisfaction on software project impact

“…However, we experienced in practice in both companies that In order to automate the data collection process where possible, we strongly felt a need for some form of automated function point count, if possible based on the code itself. However, a follow-up exploratory study of 336 functional size measurement specialists that was performed based on this hypothesis did showed that overall automated functional size measurement was considered as important, but also difficult to realize [61].…”

“…The first one relates to the from related work already known strong correlations between Project Size on the one hand, and Project Cost, Project Duration, and Number of Defects on the other, indicating the power of Project Size (measured in Function Points) as an indicator for cost, duration, and quality. However, a link with agile development is poorly covered in research [61], and in practice many agile software companies tend to see (manual) counting of functional size as waste. We argue that also agile practitioners and researchers should rethink and embrace Project Size.…”

Effort and Cost in Software Engineering

“…This emphasizes the importance of including functional size in any form in a software project repository. It might even be an important next step to automate the counting of functional size, although recent research indicated that stakeholders on functional size measurement do not see a direct need for this [41]. However, we assume that this opinion might be slightly tainted by self-interest.…”

Evidence-based software portfolio management

“…This emphasizes the importance of including functional size in any form in a software project repository. It might even be an important next step to automate the counting of functional size, although recent research indicated that stakeholders on functional size measurement do not see a direct need for this (Huijgens et al, 2015b). However, we assume that this opinion might be slightly tainted by self-interest.…”

“…An exploratory study on automated derivation of functional size based on code. Proceedings of the 38 th International Conference on Software and Systems Process (ICSSP 2015) (Huijgens, Bruntink, van Deursen, van der Storm, & Vogelezang, 2015b). 4.…”