Showing papers on "Halstead complexity measures published in 1989"
TL;DR: The results are reported of an experimental study of software metrics for a fairly large software system used in a real-time application, including the mutual relationship between various software metrics and, more importantly, the relationship between metrics and the development effort.
Abstract: The results are reported of an experimental study of software metrics for a fairly large software system used in a real-time application. A number of issues are examined, including the mutual relationship between various software metrics and, more importantly, the relationship between metrics and the development effort. Some interesting connections are reported between metrics and the software development effort. >
113 citations
15 May 1989
TL;DR: The objective of this paper is to examine some recent investigations in the area of software complexity using factor analysis to begin an exploration of the actual dimensionality of the complexity metrics.
Abstract: Software complexity metrics attempt to define the unique chaxacteristics of computer programs in an analytical way. Many such metrics have been developed to explain various perceived differences among programs. Many studies have been conducted to show the similarity among classes of these metrics. What is lacking in this body of literature is a technique which will aid in the establishment of the true dimensionality of the complexity problem space. The objective of this paper is to examine some recent investigations in the area of software complexity using factor analysis to begin an exploration of the actual di- mensionality of the complexity metrics. This technique can expose the relationships of these many metrics, one to another. Some correlation coefficients from recent empirical studies on software metrics were factor analyzed, showing the probable existence of five complexity dimensions within thirty five different complexity measures.
89 citations
TL;DR: Experimental results, obtained by examining about 550 Pascal programs, represent the widest test to date of Halstead theory with regard to Pascal programs.
Abstract: M.H. Halstead's theory (1977) has been validated for different languages, but Pascal programs seem to fit only partially with the theory. D.B. Johnston and A.M. Lister (1981) first recognized the lack of operators due to the structure of this language and proposed a modification of Halstead's formula. The article confirms their results but suggests a correction to their formula, which is particularly necessary for large programs. Experimental results, obtained by examining about 550 Pascal programs, represent the widest test to date of Halstead theory with regard to Pascal programs. >
9 citations
TL;DR: This paper describes a software tool, the partial metrics system (PMS), that supports the metrics-driven design of pseudocode program modules and illustrates its application using Ada as the target language.
3 citations
20 Sep 1989
TL;DR: Results of an experiment show that, of the Halstead metrics, N/sub 1/ is the most significant and reasonable as a metric for computing the complexity of the software from program logic charts.
Abstract: A model for estimating program size, before coding of the program begins, on the basis of the complexity of the software is presented The complexity of the software is computed from program logic charts with the Halstead metrics The relationships between the complexity of the software and program size are then statistically analyzed by taking hypothesized environmental factors, such as program categories, into consideration Results of an experiment show that, of the Halstead metrics, N/sub 1/ is the most significant and reasonable as a metric for computing the complexity of the software from program logic charts The results also show that the model based on this metric is more reliable than the conventional size estimation method >