Software Metrics: A Rigorous and Practical Approach - Softcover

Norman E. Fenton; Shari Lawrence Pfleeger

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1850322759 ISBN 13: 9781850322757

Publisher: Coriolis Group (Sd), 1996

Synopsis

This edition, updated to take account of the fast changing developments in software metrics, provides an accessible introduction to software metrics. It includes a discussion of process maturity and measurement, goal-question-metric, metrics plans, experimentation, empirical studies, object-oriented metrics and metrics tools. In this volume, the authors aim is to provide a framework for software metrics with greater emphasis placed on its practical applications. The framework is based on two simple concepts, namely a rigorous approach to measurement extracted from basic ideas in measurement theory and a classification of the entities of interest in software development in terms of products, processes and resources. Part One provides the reader with a basic understanding of why and how we measure. Thus, it examines and explains the fundamentals of measurement, experimentation and data collection and analysis. Part Two explores software engineering measurement in greater detail, with information about a range of specific metrics and their uses, backed up by a range of examples and case studies. Part Three offers a management perspective on software measurement, explaining current practices and looking ahead to future developments.

About this title

About the Author

Norman Fenton, PhD, is a professor of risk information management at Queen Mary London University and the chief executive officer of Agena, a company that specializes in risk management for critical systems. He is renowned for his work in software engineering and software metrics. His current projects focus on using Bayesian methods of analysis to risk assessment. He has published 6 books and more than 140 refereed articles and has provided consulting to many major companies worldwide.

James M. Bieman, PhD, is a professor of computer science at Colorado State University, where he was the founding director of the Software Assurance Laboratory. His research focuses on the evaluation of software designs and processes, including ways to test nontestable software, techniques that support automated software repair, and the relationships between internal design attributes and external quality attributes. He serves on the editorial boards of the Software Quality Journal and the Journal of Software and Systems Modeling.

Review

"The wait for a new edition of this book is over. Long considered the go-to text for its thorough coverage of software measurement and experimentation, the new edition succeeds splendidly in bringing the field up to date while including new and important topics. ... updated with the latest results from recent advances in software measurement research and practice. ... The authors do an outstanding job of balancing formal analysis topics with examples that ground the reader in practical application. ... Both researchers and practitioners alike will gain a valuable understanding of why measurement is critical for quality improvements in software development processes and software products. ... With this updated edition, this book solidifies its standing as the most complete reference text for software measurement."
―Computing Review, April 2015

"I have been using this book as my primary reference on software metrics for over 20 years now. It still remains the best book by far on the science and practice of software metrics. This latest edition has some important updates, especially with the inclusion of material on Bayesian networks for prediction and risk assessment."
―Paul Krause, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

"Great introduction to software metrics, measurement, and experimentation. This will be a must-read for my software engineering students."
―Lukasz Radlinski, PhD, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin, Poland

"I have loved this book from the first edition and with each new edition it just keeps getting better and better. I use this book constantly in my software engineering research and always recommend it to students. It is so much more than a software metrics book; to me it is an essential companion to rigorous empirical software engineering."
―Dr. Tracy Hall, Department of Computer Science, Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK

"This new edition of Software Metrics succeeds admirably in bringing the field of software measurement up to date and in delivering a wider range of topics to its readers as compared to its previous edition. I have both reviewed and used the book in my software measurement courses and find it to be one of the most advanced and well structured on the market today, tailored for training software engineers in both theoretical and practical aspects of software measurement. I look forward to continuing the use of the book for teaching purposes and am very comfortable offering my recommendation for this book as a primary textbook for graduate or undergraduate courses on software measurement. Thank you again for providing such a quality book to our software engineering education programs."
―Olga Ormandjieva, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Concordia University, Canada

"This book lucidly and diligently covers the nuts and bolts of software measurement. It is an excellent reference on software metric fundamentals, suitable as a comprehensive textbook for software engineering students and as a definitive manual for industry practitioners."
―Mohammad Alshayeb, Associate Professor of Software Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals

Edition details

• Publisher: Coriolis Group (Sd)
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 1850322759
• ISBN 13: 9781850322757
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 656