A Study of the Application of Software Metrics to COBOL.

Abstract

This report presents the results of a study of software metrics applied to various classes of COBOL programs. Particular attention is given to the software science metrics of Halstead, which were applied to hundreds of COBOL programs written by students at Ohio State University, as well as several production COBOL programs. The results include support of the inclusion of Data Division in the software science counting strategy, nonsupport for the use of the software science language level metric, and the identification of a weakness in the ability of the Halstead E measure to capture integration effort. Several proposed complexity metrics were compared for their ability to predict actual development effort, with none of the metrics studied behaving in an impressive manner. Some approaches for refining existing complexity metrics to overcome their apparent weaknesses are suggested.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1983
Accession Number
ADA141467

Entities

People

  • N. C. Debnath
  • S. H. Zweben

Organizations

  • Ohio State University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Programs
  • Computer Science
  • Computers
  • Data Analysis
  • Engineering
  • Information Science
  • Language
  • Multiplication Factor
  • Production
  • Programming Languages
  • Software Development
  • Software Metrics
  • Statistics

Fields of Study

  • Computer science
  • Engineering

Readers

  • Software Engineering.
  • Technical Research and Report Writing.