Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!cimshop!davidm From: cimshop!davidm@uunet.UU.NET (David S. Masterson) Newsgroups: comp.software-eng Subject: Re: How do you measure code quality? Message-ID: Date: 5 Jul 90 21:20:24 GMT References: <1990Jul2.000639.14545@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> <3016@ucsfcca.ucsf.edu> Sender: davidm@cimshop.UUCP Distribution: comp Organization: Consilium Inc., Mountain View, California. Lines: 42 In-reply-to: brianc@labmed.ucsf.edu's message of 3 Jul 90 16:53:47 GMT In article <3016@ucsfcca.ucsf.edu> brianc@labmed.ucsf.edu (Brian Colfer) writes: 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... Yeh, but not necessarily a measurement within the control of the organization (how many high-quality programs have you seen generate little return?) and certainly not something knowable going into a project. Besides, if a project fails, is it the programmers fault or top-management? >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? By the above, isn't this one and the same? The need to know how code will perform will come from the desire to maximize a return on investment. Without some measure of certainty in getting a good return on invest, why bother to invest? -- =================================================================== David Masterson Consilium, Inc. uunet!cimshop!davidm Mt. View, CA 94043 =================================================================== "If someone thinks they know what I said, then I didn't say it!"