Criteria for selecting a family of software indicators

Abstract

A family of maintainability metrics is defined by a hierarchical structure, with the top level, the family, being the most abstract. The lowest level in the hierarchy consists of the members of the family, the software metrics and the middle level consists of the property branches. A family allows for a hierarchy of measurements. The vectors of metrics and the hybrid metrics only represent one level of assessment. As with the hybrid metrics, several properties of the software are assessed through the family. Criteria for selecting a family of metrics is given, and the concept is demonstrated on an example program.<>