Xref: utzoo comp.software-eng:2536 comp.misc:7498 Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!xanth!mcnc!duke!romeo!crm From: crm@romeo.cs.duke.edu (Charlie Martin) Newsgroups: comp.software-eng,comp.misc Subject: Re: Programmer productivity Message-ID: <16231@duke.cs.duke.edu> Date: 28 Nov 89 22:20:57 GMT References: <16170@duke.cs.duke.edu> <34819@regenmeister.uucp> <16186@duke.cs.duke.edu> <31986@watmath.waterloo.edu> Sender: news@duke.cs.duke.edu Reply-To: crm@romeo.UUCP (Charlie Martin) Distribution: na Organization: Duke University CS Dept.; Durham, NC Lines: 31 In article <31986@watmath.waterloo.edu> sccowan@watmsg.waterloo.edu (S. Crispin Cowan) writes: >In article <16186@duke.cs.duke.edu> crm@romeo.UUCP (Charlie Martin) writes: >>Why then are they predictive? >In the software engineering course that I took, I was given to >understand that: > -SLOC is about as accurate as any other measure devised > -SLOC is accurate to within a factor of 2 to 4 (depending on > the application domain). Big deal, so is tummy rubbing (i.e. > expert opinion based on experience). Good point: SLOC is about as good as anything, and SLOC isn't particularly good. My suspicion is that we haven't figured out effectively enough how to standardize our measures for the psychological side (understanding of and complexity of the specifications.) I do think that most people who use an empirically-based weighted model, e.g. COCOMO with weights derived statistically within the organization, find far better accuracy that within a factor of 2 to 4. My wife manages maintenance on about 1.2 megaSLOC and her model is within about 15 percent. But that's just been my experience; I don't have a good study to quote to you. > >.... Software engineering research >has not yet suceeded in making programming an engineering field, it's >still an art. We WANT it to be engineering, life would be easier if >it were engineering, but I don't believe that it's so, yet. I agree. It's fortunate so, because otherwise I might not have a research area :-) Charlie Martin (crm@cs.duke.edu,mcnc!duke!crm) Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com