Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!ucsfcgl!cca.ucsf.edu!labmed.ucsf.edu!brianc From: brianc@labmed.ucsf.edu (Brian Colfer) Newsgroups: comp.software-eng Subject: Re: How do you measure code quality? Message-ID: <3016@ucsfcca.ucsf.edu> Date: 3 Jul 90 16:53:47 GMT References: <1990Jul2.000639.14545@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> Sender: news@cca.ucsf.edu Distribution: comp Organization: Dept. of Lab Medicine, University of California, San Francisco Lines: 47 In article cimshop!davidm@uunet.UU.NET (David S. Masterson) writes: > > Moreover, if management wants to reward creation of quality code > (what a novel concept, but how wise), you'd better have a lot > more objective was of measuring quality. Bugs reported per time > period, effort per bug to repair, changes requested per time period, > time DIV complexity to make those changes, several metrics (granted > they're mostly snake oil and predict little; let's improve them), > all need to be considered before bonuses are paid. > >Perhaps its better for management to reward a percentage of the return on the >code than worry about the quality of the code. No measurements, no >predictions, just simple sharing of returns (product sales, money saved, >etc.). Yet this is a measurement... For systems which are designed with the primary motivation of generating profits I think that this is only way to reward software creation. There are two problems with this measurement system: 1) There may be a latency between production of the system and realization of return. This will dampen the reward effect but probably not by very much ... at least you would reward the units individuals who follow good practices ... code review,etc. It will also surpress the link for management between good software principles and rewards. 2) How do we reward public sector programmers? For example if I write code which makes it easier for an M.D. to save a life how much is that code worth? To belabor the point... how much is the Huble telescope code worth? We still need a way to recognize quality and reinforce it. >Actually, I think its more important to be able to predict outcomes with some >measure of accuracy going into a project than coming out of one (when you >would normally decide on rewards). Predict outcomes of what the code will do or the return on investment? -- Brian Colfer | UC San Francisco |------------------------| | Dept. of Lab. Medicine | System Administrator, | brianc@labmed.ucsf.edu | S.F. CA, 94143-0134 USA | Programer/Analyst | BRIANC@UCSFCCA.BITNET | PH. (415) 476-2325 |------------------------|