Overview of Software Measurements Sample Clauses

Overview of Software Measurements. Software engineering organizations, as other kind of organizations, need measurements to create a corporate memory which could be used to manage different aspects of the product lifecycle. According to Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx, there are four major roles for software measurement [Hum89]:  “Control: Control type metrics are used to monitor our software processes, products and services and identify areas where corrective or management action is required.  Evaluate: Evaluate type metrics are used in the decision-making process to study products, processes or services in order to establish baselines and to determine if established standards, goals and acceptance criteria are being met.  Understand: As part of research studies, understand type metrics can be gathered to learn about our software processes, products and services.  Predict: Predict type metrics are used to estimate the values of base or derived measures in the future.” By performing well-chosen measurements it is possible to get an overall picture of what is going on in an organization and to determine the status and goodness of the organizational abilities regarding products, processes or resources. By quantifying, it is possible to get hard numbers instead of relying on qualitative expert opinions which sometimes makes it hard to reach consensus about which decisions to make [Fen97]. The importance of using measurements in software engineering is further supported by the fact that several quality models and process improvement methodologies (e.g. CMMI) emphasize on measurements, and that there exist standards on how to conduct measurements (e.g. ISO/IEC 15939:2002 [6]). Measurements involve, affect, and interest several stakeholders in an organization, which makes it essential to consider these stakeholders’ opinions when defining measurements [Fen97]. Measurements should also be aligned with the organization goals and reflect a balance of important perspectives and dimensions. In addition, measurements should be used for improvement rather than for punishment. An in order to optimize the substantial effort required in the measurement, only the relevant data (those that will be used) should be collected and processed [Cla02]. Different approaches have been developed to guide the definition and implementation of measurement frameworks in order to avoid having too many measurements. Going from goals to metrics has proven successful to assure relevant and used measurements [VSol01]. The Goal Question Met...