Evaluation of halstead and cyclomatic complexity metrics in measuring defect density

Mahmoud Alfadel, Armin Kobilica, Jameleddine Hassine

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Software metrics are used to get reproducible measurements that can be useful for quality assurance. A recent study analyzed the relation between Halstead Complexity (HC), Cyclomatic Complexity (CC), and the number of defects found in software. The number of software defects does not represent a uniform software metric and may not be generalized. This work examines the density of defects (DD) and its relationship with HC and CC metrics. We have used a well-coded open-source project. We have focused our analysis at the class level and examined potential patterns and correlations that may exist between these two software metrics and the density of defects. We found that HC and CC exhibit similar relationships to Defect Density metric. Furthermore, their strong positive linear correlation leads to the conclusion that HC and CC are two consistent software metrics with respect to density of defects.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2017 9th IEEE-GCC Conference and Exhibition, GCCCE 2017
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
ISBN (Print)9781538627563
DOIs
StatePublished - 27 Aug 2018

Publication series

Name2017 9th IEEE-GCC Conference and Exhibition, GCCCE 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 IEEE.

Keywords

  • Cyclomatic Complexity (CC)
  • Defect Density
  • Halstead Complexity (HC)
  • Metrics Correlation
  • Software Metrics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Signal Processing
  • Information Systems and Management
  • Media Technology
  • Instrumentation

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