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Shyam R. Chidamber

Bio: Shyam R. Chidamber is an academic researcher from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The author has contributed to research in topics: Software development & Software metric. The author has an hindex of 6, co-authored 6 publications receiving 6323 citations.

Papers
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Book
02 Sep 2011
TL;DR: This research addresses the needs for software measures in object-orientation design through the development and implementation of a new suite of metrics for OO design, and suggests ways in which managers may use these metrics for process improvement.
Abstract: Given the central role that software development plays in the delivery and application of information technology, managers are increasingly focusing on process improvement in the software development area. This demand has spurred the provision of a number of new and/or improved approaches to software development, with perhaps the most prominent being object-orientation (OO). In addition, the focus on process improvement has increased the demand for software measures, or metrics with which to manage the process. The need for such metrics is particularly acute when an organization is adopting a new technology for which established practices have yet to be developed. This research addresses these needs through the development and implementation of a new suite of metrics for OO design. Metrics developed in previous research, while contributing to the field's understanding of software development processes, have generally been subject to serious criticisms, including the lack of a theoretical base. Following Wand and Weber (1989), the theoretical base chosen for the metrics was the ontology of Bunge (1977). Six design metrics are developed, and then analytically evaluated against Weyuker's (1988) proposed set of measurement principles. An automated data collection tool was then developed and implemented to collect an empirical sample of these metrics at two field sites in order to demonstrate their feasibility and suggest ways in which managers may use these metrics for process improvement. >

5,476 citations

Book
14 Sep 2011
TL;DR: These metrics are based upon measurement theory and are informed by the insights of experienced object-oriented software developers, and formally evaluated against a widelyaccepted list of software metric evaluation criteria.
Abstract: While software metrics are a generally desirable feature in the software management functions of project planning and project evaluation, they are of especial importance with a new technology such as the object-oriented approach. This is due to the significant need to train software engineers in generally accepted object-oriented principles. This paper presents theoretical work that builds a suite of metrics for object-oriented design. In particular, these metrics are based upon measurement theory and are informed by the insights of experienced object-oriented software developers. The proposed metrics are formally evaluated against a widelyaccepted list of software metric evaluation criteria.

841 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that it is premature to begin applying object oriented software metrics while there remains uncertainty about the precise definitions of many of the quantities to be observed and their impact upon subsequent indirect metrics.
Abstract: A suite of object oriented software metrics has recently been proposed by S.R. Chidamber and C.F. Kemerer (see ibid., vol. 20, p. 476-94, 1994). While the authors have taken care to ensure their metrics have a sound measurement theoretical basis, we argue that is premature to begin applying such metrics while there remains uncertainty about the precise definitions of many of the quantities to be observed and their impact upon subsequent indirect metrics. In particular, we show some of the ambiguities associated with the seemingly simple concept of the number of methods per class. The usefulness of the proposed metrics, and others, would be greatly enhanced if clearer guidance concerning their application to specific languages were to be provided. Such empirical considerations are as important as the theoretical issues raised by the authors. >

149 citations

Book
22 Feb 2018
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the philosophical underpinnings of market demand and technology factors as drivers of innovation and suggest that much of the contention between the demand-pull and technology-push findings is due to different research objectives, definitions and models.
Abstract: Innovation researchers have frequently debated whether organizational innovation is driven by market demand or by technological shifts. The market demand school of thought suggests that organizations innovate based on market needs, whereas the technology proponents claim that change in technology is the primary driver of innovation. Collectively, empirical research studies on technological innovation are inconclusive regarding this technology–push, demand–pull (TPDP) debate. Eight key studies relevant to this issue are examined for their methods, implications and caveats, to establish a structured way of interpreting the various results. The philosophical underpinnings of market demand and technology factors as drivers of innovation are also examined. This paper suggests that much of the contention between the demand–pull and technology–push findings is due to different research objectives, definitions and models. The main conclusion is that there exists a clear relationship between the research models used in these studies and the outcomes observed, suggesting that differences in problem statement and research constructs may be causing the apparent incongruity in research findings. Organizational and national policy level issues are also examined in light of the finding that different levels of analysis lead to different results.

123 citations

01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: This dissertation first presents theoretical work that builds a suite of metrics for object-oriented design (OOD) that are based upon measurement theory and ontology and incorporate the insights of experienced object- oriented software developers.
Abstract: Object oriented programming promises to move software development and maintenance from the current 'craft' environment to something more closely resembling conventional engineering. In order to fulfill this promise, it will require measures or metrics of the process. While software metrics are a generally desirable feature in the software management function, they are of special importance with a new technology such as the object-oriented approach due to the need to train current and new software engineers in generally accepted object-oriented principles. This dissertation first presents theoretical work that builds a suite of metrics for object-oriented design (OOD). In particular, these metrics are based upon measurement theory and ontology. In addition, they incorporate the insights of experienced object-oriented software developers. The proposed metrics are mathematically evaluated against a widely-accepted list of seven software metric evaluation criteria and the formal results of this evaluation are presented. A second goal of this work is to make these metrics machinable, i.e. build a tool that extracts these metrics from commercially used class libraries. A metrics extractor tool is built to extract metrics from C++ class libraries. The metrics extractor is currently configured to collect metrics from C++ code in UNIX workstation environments. A third goal of this dissertation is to relate the metrics gathered on commercial projects to performance indicators of managerial relevance such as development effort, extent of reuse, and productivity in order to determine the degree to which the proposed metrics are useful predictors of typical economic considerations faced by MIS managers. In the final phase of this dissertation, the organizational considerations of using metrics as part of the development process are examined. The message to practicing managers is that without adequate measures for OOD, organizations will find themselves increasingly unable to achieve the full benefits of object-oriented technology. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)

32 citations


Cited by
More filters
Book
02 Sep 2011
TL;DR: This research addresses the needs for software measures in object-orientation design through the development and implementation of a new suite of metrics for OO design, and suggests ways in which managers may use these metrics for process improvement.
Abstract: Given the central role that software development plays in the delivery and application of information technology, managers are increasingly focusing on process improvement in the software development area. This demand has spurred the provision of a number of new and/or improved approaches to software development, with perhaps the most prominent being object-orientation (OO). In addition, the focus on process improvement has increased the demand for software measures, or metrics with which to manage the process. The need for such metrics is particularly acute when an organization is adopting a new technology for which established practices have yet to be developed. This research addresses these needs through the development and implementation of a new suite of metrics for OO design. Metrics developed in previous research, while contributing to the field's understanding of software development processes, have generally been subject to serious criticisms, including the lack of a theoretical base. Following Wand and Weber (1989), the theoretical base chosen for the metrics was the ontology of Bunge (1977). Six design metrics are developed, and then analytically evaluated against Weyuker's (1988) proposed set of measurement principles. An automated data collection tool was then developed and implemented to collect an empirical sample of these metrics at two field sites in order to demonstrate their feasibility and suggest ways in which managers may use these metrics for process improvement. >

5,476 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Several of Chidamber and Kemerer's OO metrics appear to be useful to predict class fault-proneness during the early phases of the life-cycle and are better predictors than "traditional" code metrics, which can only be collected at a later phase of the software development processes.
Abstract: This paper presents the results of a study in which we empirically investigated the suite of object-oriented (OO) design metrics introduced in (Chidamber and Kemerer, 1994). More specifically, our goal is to assess these metrics as predictors of fault-prone classes and, therefore, determine whether they can be used as early quality indicators. This study is complementary to the work described in (Li and Henry, 1993) where the same suite of metrics had been used to assess frequencies of maintenance changes to classes. To perform our validation accurately, we collected data on the development of eight medium-sized information management systems based on identical requirements. All eight projects were developed using a sequential life cycle model, a well-known OO analysis/design method and the C++ programming language. Based on empirical and quantitative analysis, the advantages and drawbacks of these OO metrics are discussed. Several of Chidamber and Kemerer's OO metrics appear to be useful to predict class fault-proneness during the early phases of the life-cycle. Also, on our data set, they are better predictors than "traditional" code metrics, which can only be collected at a later phase of the software development processes.

1,741 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
16 Oct 2006
TL;DR: This paper recommends benchmarking selection and evaluation methodologies, and introduces the DaCapo benchmarks, a set of open source, client-side Java benchmarks that improve over SPEC Java in a variety of ways, including more complex code, richer object behaviors, and more demanding memory system requirements.
Abstract: Since benchmarks drive computer science research and industry product development, which ones we use and how we evaluate them are key questions for the community. Despite complex runtime tradeoffs due to dynamic compilation and garbage collection required for Java programs, many evaluations still use methodologies developed for C, C++, and Fortran. SPEC, the dominant purveyor of benchmarks, compounded this problem by institutionalizing these methodologies for their Java benchmark suite. This paper recommends benchmarking selection and evaluation methodologies, and introduces the DaCapo benchmarks, a set of open source, client-side Java benchmarks. We demonstrate that the complex interactions of (1) architecture, (2) compiler, (3) virtual machine, (4) memory management, and (5) application require more extensive evaluation than C, C++, and Fortran which stress (4) much less, and do not require (3). We use and introduce new value, time-series, and statistical metrics for static and dynamic properties such as code complexity, code size, heap composition, and pointer mutations. No benchmark suite is definitive, but these metrics show that DaCapo improves over SPEC Java in a variety of ways, including more complex code, richer object behaviors, and more demanding memory system requirements. This paper takes a step towards improving methodologies for choosing and evaluating benchmarks to foster innovation in system design and implementation for Java and other managed languages.

1,561 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Although the role of market knowledge competence in enhancing new product advantage is assumed widely in the literature, empirical studies are lacking because of an absence of the concept definitio....
Abstract: Although the role of market knowledge competence in enhancing new product advantage is assumed widely in the literature, empirical studies are lacking because of an absence of the concept definitio...

1,318 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Wei Li, Sallie M. Henry1
TL;DR: This research concentrates on several object-oriented software metrics and the validation of these metrics with maintenance effort in two commercial systems.

1,111 citations