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Metrics: Product Metrics (Size, Complexity, Performance) Maintenance) Project Metrics (Cost, Schedule, Productivity)

This document discusses software metrics that can be used to measure project activities, resources, deliverables, and product attributes. It describes three categories of software metrics: product, process, and project metrics. Specific metrics discussed include lines of code, function points, defect density, and defect removal effectiveness. The document also outlines tools for analyzing metrics, such as control charts and cause-and-effect diagrams, and provides an example of how function point metrics can be used to measure improvements in a software development process.

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Yogesh Bansal
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49 views

Metrics: Product Metrics (Size, Complexity, Performance) Maintenance) Project Metrics (Cost, Schedule, Productivity)

This document discusses software metrics that can be used to measure project activities, resources, deliverables, and product attributes. It describes three categories of software metrics: product, process, and project metrics. Specific metrics discussed include lines of code, function points, defect density, and defect removal effectiveness. The document also outlines tools for analyzing metrics, such as control charts and cause-and-effect diagrams, and provides an example of how function point metrics can be used to measure improvements in a software development process.

Uploaded by

Yogesh Bansal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Metrics

Metrics are measurements, collections of data about


project activities, resources and deliverables. Metrics
can be used to help estimate projects, measure project
progress and performance, and quantify product
attributes.
Software metrics can be classified into three categories:

Product metrics (size, complexity, performance)


Process metrics (used to improve development and
maintenance)
Project metrics (cost, schedule, productivity)

Metrics for software process


Some of the software metrics
Productivity & efficiency metrics
Management support metrics
Size metrics (also used to create other
metrics):

Lines

of code (LOC)
Function points (FP)

Lines of code

Not as simple metric as it may sound


Is used in many metrics, for example in defect rate:
defects per KLOC (=thousand lines of code) or LOC
inspected
Many problems

The ambiguity of the counting meaning is not the same with


Assembler or high-level languages
What to count? Blank lines, comments, data definitions, only
executable lines..?
Problematic for productivity studies: the amount of LOC is
negatively correlated with design efficiency

Function points

Function Points measure software size by


quantifying the functionality provided to the user
based solely on logical design and functional
specifications
Has gained acceptance in terms of productivity
(for example FP/year) and quality (defects/FP)
The IFPUG counting practices committee (
http://www.ifpug.org ) is the de facto standard for
counting methods

Function points

A weighted total of five major components that


form an application:
Number

of external inputs (e.g. transaction types)x4


Number of external outputs (e.g. report types)x5
Number of logical internal files (from the users point
of view as the may be conceived, not physical
files)x10
Number of external interface files (files accessed by
the application but not maintained by it)x7
Number of external inquiries (types of online inquiries
supported)x4

Function points

Can be calculated with low or high weighting


factors depending the complexity assesment of
the application
Many metrics can be based on function point
calculations
Although FP is usually more realistic metric than
LOC...
Calculating FPs needs training
Sometimes LOC is a metric fair enough

Software metrics for process


purposes

The effectiveness of defect removal inprocess


The pattern of testing defect arrival
The response time of fix process
Also in-process quality metrics improve both
the product and the process:

Defect density during machine testing


Phase-based defect removal pattern

Defect density during machine


testing

A simple metric: defects/KLOC or defects/FP


Defect rate during formal machine testing is usually
connected with the defect rate in the field
Higher defect rates found during testing indicate that the
software has experienced high error injection unless
some new testing approach is used or some extra
testing is used for some reason
Indicates the quality of the product when the software is
still tested many defects in testing mean that theres
too much error input in process
Can be used in other metrics

Defect Removal Effectiveness


(DRE)
A simple metric:
DRE=

Defects removed during a development phase


Defects still hidden in the product

x100%

Of course the number of latent defects in the product at any given


phase is not known, so the metric is based on approximation. Its
usually estimated by:
Defects removed during the phase + defects found later

Defect Removal Effectiveness

The metric can be calculated for the entire development process, for
each phase or before code integration
The higher the value, the more effective the development process
and fewer defects escaping to next phase or the field
For example, calculated for spesfic phases = phase effectiveness:

About productivity metrics..

Software productivity is a complex subject concerning


lots of factors (resources, quality, time..)
Metrics like LOC/hour, FP/person-month, hours / class
and average person-days/class (in object metrics) etc.
Usually number of units of output per unit of effort
Can be used to increase development by focusing on
certain not-efficient phases usually problematic in other
sense, too

Tools for analyzing metrics

Metrics are no use if they are not analyzed properly


For process and quality control at the project level
Some are more useful than others
Ishikawas 7 old tools:

Checklist
Pareto Diagram
Histogram
Scatter diagram
Run chart
Control Chart
Cause-and-effect diagram

Tools for analyzing metrics


Also new tools: the affinity diagram, the
relations diagram, the tree diagram, the
matrix chart, the matrix data analysis
chart, the process decision program chart
and the arrow diagram
Plenty of tools, but just using them doesnt
improve anything careful and selective
usage might do so

Software process improvement in


general

Usage of model based approach, like Capability


Maturity Model for Software (CMM) or Capability
Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) for guiding
and measuring process improvement effort
Goal should be improving process maturity
instead of attaining CMMI level
Measures and analyzes are used when
determining process qualities

Example: Using function point metrics


to measure software process
improvements

What kind of value results process improvements


bring?
Fewer

failures?
Higher productivity and quality?
Shorter schedules?
Higher user satisfaction?

Measurement with function points


First a formal process assessment and a
baseline, followed by a six-stage improvement
program

Using function point metrics to measure


software process improvements

Software process assessment, baseline


Assesment:

finding all the strengths and weaknesses


associated with software
Baseline: providing a quantitative basis for quality,
productivity, costs etc. -> collected with function point
metrics

Stage 1: Focus on management technologies


Stage 2: Focus on Software Processes and
methodologies

Using function point metrics to measure


software process improvements
Stage 3: Focus on new tools and
approaches
Stage 4: Focus on Infrastructure and
Specialization
Stage 5: Focus on Reusability
Stage 6: Focus on Industry Leadership

Using function point metrics to measure


software process improvements
As the focus has been in all the 6 stages
in improvement, data is collected and
metrics are used estimating the results
Function points can measure noncoding
activities such as design, documentation
and management, too

Using function point metrics to measure


software process improvements

Imaginary values are used to demonstrate how values improve


when improving the process from CMM 1 to CMM 3

Using function point metrics to measure


software process improvements

For noticing..

Almost everything can be measured, but for what purpose?

Planned metrics vs. actual metrics (for example error estimation)

Evaluation designed and careful, objectivity needed

Software process is a complicated matter with lots of elements


like creativity and mental activity. Using statistic metrics and
tools doesnt absolutely make it better, but the right usage
(Goal/Question/Metric) can help to improve the process.

Improving software process is a long way depending on various


factors and should be done with a model

References

Stephen H. Kan, Metrics and Models in


Software Quality Engineering, Pearson
Education Limited 2003, Boston, United States
International Function Point Users Group,
http://www.ifpug.org
SPC metrics resources,
http://www.spc.ca/resources/metrics/index.htm
R.S. Pressman & Associates, Inc., Software Engineering
Resources, http://www.rspa.com/spi/

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