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From: kww@cbnews.ATT.COM (Kevin W. Wall)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng,comp.misc
Subject: Metrics (was "Re: Programmer productivity")
Keywords: programming productivity, metrics, lines of code
Message-ID: <11690@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 23 Nov 89 04:49:24 GMT
References: <34819@regenmeister.uucp>
Reply-To: kww@cbnews.ATT.COM (Kevin W. Wall,55212,cb,1B329,6148604775)
Distribution: na
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 34

Before we are all at each other's throats arguing how programmer productivity
should be measured, I suggest you all check out the book "Programming
Productivity" by T. Capers Jones (1987 ??).  It points out the many apparent
paradoxes of using SLOC as a metric for measuring productivity -- most of
which are very non-intuititve.  It is the ONLY book that I've seen on software
metrics which I think contains the STRAIGHT SCOOP (i.e., no hype) on this
crucial area.  I highly recommend it.

Now getting back to SLOC, let's face it -- the general reasons that SLOC still
being used as a measure of programmer productivity are:
	1) management demands some quantitative measurement (& rightfully so).
	2) SLOC is a very easy thing to measure.
	3) other possible software metrics (e.g., Halstead's, McCabe's,
	   function points, etc.) are either difficult to calculate, or
	   difficult to interpret, or both.

I assume that most readers of this newsgroup are well aware of the shortcomings
of using SLOC as an accurrate software metric.  (If not, see T. Caper Jones'
book, mentioned above.)

Instead of pointing out are the things that are wrong with SLOC, how about
hearing some success stories using some other software metric (e.g., McCabe's
complexity metric, etc.).

Also (surprise, surprise), not all of software development consists of
programming.  That is just the implementation phase.  What metrics do you
use (or "should be used") for measuring productivity of those involved in
design, testing, requirements, etc.?

-- 
In person: Kevin W. Wall			AT&T Bell Laboratories
Usenet/UUCP: {att!}cblpf!kww			6200 E. Broad St.
Internet: kww@cblpf.att.com			Columbus, Oh. 43213
		"Death is life's way of firing you!" -- Hack rumor