AUTOMATING OUTPUT SIZE AND REUSE METRICS IN A REPOSITORY-BASED COMPUTER AIDED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (CASE) ENVIRONMENT

Measurement of software development productivity is needed in order to control software costs, but it is discouragingly labor-intensive and expensive. Computer aided software engineering (CASE) technologies -- especially repository-based, integrated CASE -- have the potential to support the automation of this measurement. In this paper, we discuss the development of automated analyzers for function point and software reuse measurement for object-based CASE. Both analyzers take advantage of the existence of a representation of the application system that is stored within an object repository, and that contains the necessary information about the application system. We also discuss metrics for software reuse measurement, including reuse leverage, reuse value and reuse classification, that are motivated by managerial requirements and the efforts, within industry and the IEEE, to standardize measurement. The functionality and the analytical capabilities of state-of-the-art automated software metrics analyzers are illustrated in the context of an investment banking industry application, that is similar to systems deployed at the New York City-based investment bank where these tools were developed and tested.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

AUTOMATING OUTPUT SIZE AND REUSE METRICS IN A REPOSITORY-BASED COMPUTER AIDED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (CASE) ENVIRONMENT

Measurement of software development productivity is needed in order to control software costs, but it is discouragingly labor-intensive and expensive. Computer aided software engineering (CASE) technologies -- especially repository-based, integrated CASE -- have the potential to support the automation of this measurement. In this paper, we discuss the development of automated analyzers for function point and software reuse measurement for object-based CASE. Both analyzers take advantage of the existence of a representation of the application system that is stored within an object repository, and that contains the necessary information about the application system. We also discuss metrics for software reuse measurement, including reuse leverage, reuse value and reuse classification, that are motivated by managerial requirements and the efforts, within industry and the IEEE, to standardize measurement. The functionality and the analytical capabilities of state-of-the-art automated software metrics analyzers are illustrated in the context of an investment banking industry application, that is similar to systems deployed at the New York City-based investment bank where these tools were developed and tested.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

Automating output size and reuse metrics in a repository-based computer-aided software engineering (CASE) environment

[KEYWORDS: CASE, computer aided software engineering function point analysis, object-based development, programming productiviq, repositories, reuse, sojhare costs, software engineering economics, software metrics.] F'orthcoming

AUTOMATING OUTPUT SIZE AND REUSE METRICS IN A REPOSITORY-BASED COMPUTER AIDED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (CASE) ENVIRONMENT

Measurement of software development productivity is needed in order to control software costs, but it is discouragingly labor-intensive and expensive. Computer aided software engineering (CASE) technologies -- especially repository-based, integrated CASE -- have the potential to support the automation of this measurement. In this paper, we discuss the development of automated analyzers for function point and software reuse measurement for object-based CASE. Both analyzers take advantage of the existence of a representation of the application system that is stored within an object repository, and that contains the necessary information about the application system. We also discuss metrics for software reuse measurement, including reuse leverage, reuse value and reuse classification, that are motivated by managerial requirements and the efforts, within industry and the IEEE, to standardize measurement. The functionality and the analytical capabilities of state-of-the-art automated software metrics analyzers are illustrated in the context of an investment banking industry application, that is similar to systems deployed at the New York City-based investment bank where these tools were developed and tested.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

AUTOMATING OUTPUT SIZE AND REUSE METRICS IN A REPOSITORY-BASED COMPUTER AIDED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (CASE) ENVIRONMENT

Measurement of software development productivity is needed in order to control software costs, but it is discouragingly labor-intensive and expensive. Computer aided software engineering (CASE) technologies -- especially repository-based, integrated CASE -- have the potential to support the automation of this measurement. In this paper, we discuss the development of automated analyzers for function point and software reuse measurement for object-based CASE. Both analyzers take advantage of the existence of a representation of the application system that is stored within an object repository, and that contains the necessary information about the application system. We also discuss metrics for software reuse measurement, including reuse leverage, reuse value and reuse classification, that are motivated by managerial requirements and the efforts, within industry and the IEEE, to standardize measurement. The functionality and the analytical capabilities of state-of-the-art automated software metrics analyzers are illustrated in the context of an investment banking industry application, that is similar to systems deployed at the New York City-based investment bank where these tools were developed and tested.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

AUTOMATED SOFTWARE METRICS, REPOSITORY EVALUATION AND SOFTWARE ASSET MANAGEMENT: NEW TOOLS AND PERSPECTIVES FOR MANAGING INTEGRATED COMPUTER AIDED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (I-CASE)

Automated collection of software metrics in computer aided software engineering (CASE) environments opens up new avenues for improving the management of software development operations, as well as shifting the focus of management's control efforts from "software projectâ to "software assets" stored in a centralized repository. Repository evaluation, a new direction for software metrics research in the 1990s, promises a fresh view of software development performance for a range of responsibility levels. We discuss the automation of function point and code reuse analysis in the context of an integrated CASE (I-CASE) environment deployed at a large investment bank in New York City. The development of an automated code reuse analysis tool prompted us to re-think how to measure and interpret code reuse in the I-CASE environment. The metrics we propose describe three dimensions of code reuse -- leverage, value and classification -- and we examine the value of applying them on a project and a repository-wide basis.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

THE BUSINESS CASE FOR AUTOMATING SOFTWARE METRICS IN OBJECT-ORIENTED COMPUTER AIDED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING ENVIRONMENTS

This paper makes the business case for automating the collection of software metrics for gauging development performance in integrated computer aided software engineering (CASE) environments that are characterized by an object-oriented development methodology and a centralized repository. The automation of function point analysis is discussed in the context of such an integrated CASE environment (ICE). We also discuss new metrics that describe three different dimensions of code reuse -- leverage, value and classification -- and examine the p,ossibility of utilizing objects as means to estimate software development labor and measure productivity. We argue that the automated collection of these software metrics opens up new avenues for refining the management of software development projects and controlling stra-egic costs.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

AN EMPIRICAL TEST OF OBJECT-BASED OUTPUT MEASUREMENT METRICS IN A COMPUTER AIDED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (CASE) ENVIRONMENT

Existing output measurement metrics for cost estimation and development productivity need to be re-examined to determine their performance in computer aided software engineering (CASE) development environments. This paper critiques and empirically evaluates four approaches to the measurement of outputs. Two of the metrics, raw function counts and function points, are based on the function point analysis methodology pioneered by Albrecht and Gaffney at IBM (ALBR83). The second two, object counts and object points, are based on a new approach -- object points analysis -- that is introduced here for the first time. The latter metrics are specialized for output measurement in object-based CASE environments that include a centralized object repository. Estimation results for nineteen large-scale CASE projects show that the new metrics have the potential to yield as accurate, yet easier to obtain estimates than function points-based measures.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

AUTOMATING OUTPUT SIZE AND REUSABILITY METRICS IN AN OBJECT-BASED COMPUTER AIDED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (CASE) ENVIRONMENT

Measurement of software development productivity is needed in order to control software costs, but it is discouragingly labor-intensive and expensive. Computer aided software engineering (CASE) technologies -- especially object-oriented, integrated CASE -- have the potential to support the automation of this measurement. In this paper, we discuss the conceptual development of automated analyzers for function point and software reusability measurement for object-based CASE. Both analyzers take advantage of the existence of a representation of the application system that is stored within an object repository, and that contains the necessary information about the application system. We also propose new metrics for software reusability measurement, including reuse leverage, reuse value and reuse classification. The functionality and analytic capabilities of state-of-the-art automated software metrics analyzers are illustrated in the context of an investment banking industry application.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

MANAGING DEVELOPMENT PRODUCTIVITY OF THE COMPUTER AIDED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (CASE) PROCESS WITH DYNAMIC LIFE CYCLE TRAJECTORY METRICS

This paper proposes a new vision for the measurement and management of development productivity related to computer aided software engineering (CASE) technology. We propose that they be monitored and controlled via the application of dynamic software development "life cycle trajectory metrics." This view develops out of management accounting approaches for process control and recent advances in CASE technology that make automated measurement possible. We suggest that current approaches involve the use of "static metricsâ for estimation and evaluation, with the result that the depth of the insights they can provide to management is necessarily limited. They only provide "point estimatesâ of output or productivity at the beginning and end of the project. Yet to manage software development proactively for improved efficiency and effectiveness, management needs to track the range of activities and effort across the entire software development life cycle. This can only be accomplished when timely and relevant information is obtained about the software size output, as well as costs, via âdynamic metrics,â which provide a richer phase-by-phase view.Information Systems Working Papers Serie