Getting started on metrics-Jet Propulsion Laboratory productivity and quality

A description is given of the SPA (Software Product Assurance) Metrics Study, part of an effort to improve software quality and the productivity and predictability of software development. The first objective was to collect whatever data could be found from as many projects for which they were still available. Data were assembled on the basis of four basic parameters: source lines of code, dollars, work years, and defects. By using these four basic parameters, it was possible to construct quality and productivity baselines. Quality was defined as the number of defects per thousand lines of source code. Productivity was defined in two ways: dollars per source line of code and source lines of code per work month. Preliminary results of this study are presented