DocumentCode
1483554
Title
Evaluating software complexity measures
Author
Weyuker, Elaine J.
Author_Institution
Dept. of Comput. Sci., Courant Inst. of Math. Sci., New York Univ., NY, USA
Volume
14
Issue
9
fYear
1988
fDate
9/1/1988 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage
1357
Lastpage
1365
Abstract
A set of properties of syntactic software complexity measures is proposed to serve as a basis for the evaluation of such measures. Four known complexity measures are evaluated and compared using these criteria. This formalized evaluation clarifies the strengths and weaknesses of the examined complexity measures, which include the statement count, cyclomatic number, effort measure, and data flow complexity measures. None of these measures possesses all nine properties, and several are found to fail to possess particularly fundamental properties; this failure calls into question their usefulness in measuring synthetic complexity
Keywords
software engineering; cyclomatic number; data flow complexity; effort measure; software complexity measures; software engineering; statement count; syntactic software complexity; synthetic complexity; Arithmetic; Computer languages; Computer science; Concrete; Fluid flow measurement; Particle measurements; Software measurement; Software metrics; Software reliability; Software testing;
fLanguage
English
Journal_Title
Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on
Publisher
ieee
ISSN
0098-5589
Type
jour
DOI
10.1109/32.6178
Filename
6178
Link To Document