Analysis of Applicability for Synchronization Complexity Metric

Abstract

The paper analyzes the practical applicability of the novel Synchronization Complexity metric (SCM) introduced by the authors in [14]. This metric characterizes complexity of a program based on the kind and amount of means used for synchronization between its concurrent components. The metric is evaluated with respect to the soundness properties introduced by Weyuker [13] and software measurement scales considered by Zuse [15]. The growth of SCM for real-world applications is also analyzed. The analysis shows that SCM is a useful practical instrument for evaluation of complex software systems. In particular, SCM allows for assessment of the amount of tests needed to achieve a proper coverage in testing of a concurrent program. It also enables comparison between different implementations of a system based on their synchronization complexity.