Coupling and Cohesion Metrics for Object-Oriented Software: A Systematic Mapping Study

Abstract

Coupling and Cohesion are two fundamental concepts that can be applied to design better modular object-oriented software. This study aims at reviewing existing research on coupling and cohesion metrics in order to identify the potential ones and needs for the future research. A systematic mapping study is presented to identify the popular coupling and cohesion metrics, and their applicability in practice. A total of 137 papers were found and classified into four different classes- evolution of coupling and cohesion metrics, research type, contribution, and context focus. Our study revealed that the significance of coupling and cohesion metrics in various software development activities has been advocated by various researchers. However, some issues such as the lack of availability of information about the contextual usages of these metrics and their multiple interpretations by different researchers need to be resolved to establish the practical use of these metrics.