Software Development Metrics

Abstract

Software development metrics are the means by which software engineers assess and predict aspects of those processes, resources, and products that are relevant to the software engineering activity. Metrics serve as the compass that guides the discipline in the search for efficient and effective solutions to complex problems. Future progress in the discipline will be closely tied to the ability of these metrics to provide accurate and timely information to those software engineers navigating the problem‐solving seas. In this article, the notion of a software metric and its formulation for use in a problem‐solving situation are presented. A description of the basic categories of software metrics based on the entities of the software development process that they measure is given. Metrics that have been proposed for each phase of the software development process using this classification are surveyed.