Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!burl!codas!ufcsv!gatech!bbn!rochester!crowl
From: crowl@cs.rochester.edu (Lawrence Crowl)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Software Complexity Measures Will Never Be Accurate
Message-ID: <5874@sol.ARPA>
Date: 14 Jan 88 01:05:52 GMT
Reply-To: crowl@cs.rochester.edu (Lawrence Crowl)
Organization: U of Rochester, CS Dept, Rochester, NY
Lines: 14

Algorithmic measures of algorithmic complexity will never be accurate.  The
problem is that a larger set of assumptions, or programmer state, allows
smaller programs.  Since algorithms are unlikely to be able to capture the set
of assumptions in a piece of code, the measures must rely on program size,
operator relationships, etc.  Smaller programs are more likely to have smaller
complexity values, reguardless of the set of assumptions.  However, the set of
assumptions, or programmer state, required to understand a code fragment is
just what makes a piece of code difficult to understand.   Algorithmic
measures of complexity fail to capture the set of assumptions within a piece
of code, and therefore are inaccurate measures of actual complexity.  
-- 
  Lawrence Crowl		716-275-9499	University of Rochester
		      crowl@cs.rochester.edu	Computer Science Department
...!{allegra,decvax,rutgers}!rochester!crowl	Rochester, New York,  14627