An evaluation of software structure metrics

Evaluates some software design metrics, based on the information flow metrics of S. Henry and D. Kafura (1981, 1984), using data from a communications system. The ability of the design metrics to identify change-prone, error-prone, and complex programs was contrasted with that of simple code metrics. It was found that the design metrics were not as good at identifying change-prone, fault-prone, and complex programs as simple code metrics (i.e. lines of code and number of branches). It was also observed that the compound metrics, built up from several different basic counts, can obscure underlying effects, and thus make it more difficult to use metrics constructively.>