All of the software metrics introduced in this chapter can be used for the development of new software and the maintenance of existing soft...
All of the software metrics introduced in this chapter can be used for the development of new software and the maintenance of existing software. However, metrics designed explicitly for maintenance activities have been proposed.
IEEE Std. 982.1-1988 suggests a software maturity index (SMI) that provides an indication of the stability of a software product (based on changes that occur for each release of the product). The following information is determined:
MT = the number of modules in the current release
Fc = the number of modules in the current release that have been changed
Fa = the number of modules in the current release that have been added
Fd = the number of modules from the preceding release that were deleted in the current release
Fc = the number of modules in the current release that have been changed
Fa = the number of modules in the current release that have been added
Fd = the number of modules from the preceding release that were deleted in the current release
The software maturity index is computed in the following manner:
SMI = [MT (Fa + Fc + Fd)]/MT
As SMI approaches 1.0, the product begins to stabilize. SMI may also be used as metric for planning software maintenance activities. The mean time to produce a release of a software product can be correlated with SMI and empirical models for maintenance effort can be developed.
