Software Complexity Measure

A Software Complexity Measure is a software engineering-related measure within software systems that aims to quantify software structural complexity and software behavioral complexity.

AKA: Code Complexity Metric, Program Complexity Measure, Software Complexity Metric.
Context:
- It can typically assess Software Maintainability through software complexity scores.
- It can typically predict Software Defect Probability via software complexity correlations.
- It can typically guide Software Refactoring Decisions using software complexity thresholds.
- It can typically evaluate Software Development Risk through software complexity analysis.
- It can typically indicate Software Testing Effort via software complexity measurements.
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- It can often support Software Quality Assurance through software complexity monitoring.
- It can often enable Software Cost Estimation by software complexity factors.
- It can often facilitate Software Architecture Review via software complexity patterns.
- It can often inform Software Team Allocation through software complexity distribution.
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- It can range from being a Static Software Complexity Measure to being a Dynamic Software Complexity Measure, depending on its software complexity analysis timing.
- It can range from being a Local Software Complexity Measure to being a Global Software Complexity Measure, depending on its software complexity measurement scope.
- It can range from being a Single-Aspect Software Complexity Measure to being a Multi-Aspect Software Complexity Measure, depending on its software complexity dimension coverage.
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- It can integrate with Software Development Environments for software complexity automated calculation.
- It can connect to Software Quality Tools for software complexity continuous monitoring.
- It can interface with Software Project Management Systems for software complexity risk tracking.
- It can communicate with Software Testing Frameworks for software complexity test planning.
- It can synchronize with Software Documentation Systems for software complexity reporting.
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Example(s):
- Control Flow Software Complexity Measures, such as:
  - Cyclomatic Software Complexity Measure, measuring software complexity linearly independent paths.
  - Essential Complexity Measure, assessing software complexity irreducible control structures.
  - Nesting Depth Measure, tracking software complexity control structure depth.
  - Cognitive Complexity Measure, evaluating software complexity human comprehension difficulty.
- Size-Based Software Complexity Measures, such as:
  - Lines of Code (LOC) Measure, counting software complexity code statements.
  - Function Point Analysis, measuring software complexity functional size.
  - Source Lines of Code (SLOC), tracking software complexity physical lines.
  - Logical Lines of Code (LLOC), counting software complexity logical statements.
- Structural Software Complexity Measures, such as:
  - Halstead Software Complexity Measure, analyzing software complexity operator-operand usage.
  - Coupling Measure, assessing software complexity module interdependence.
  - Cohesion Measure, evaluating software complexity module unity.
  - Fan-In/Fan-Out Measure, tracking software complexity module connections.
- Object-Oriented Software Complexity Measures, such as:
  - Depth of Inheritance Tree (DIT), measuring software complexity class hierarchy depth.
  - Weighted Methods per Class (WMC), calculating software complexity method complexity sum.
  - Coupling Between Objects (CBO), assessing software complexity class coupling.
  - Response for a Class (RFC), counting software complexity method call set.
- Information Theory Software Complexity Measures, such as:
  - Entropy-Based Complexity, measuring software complexity information content.
  - Kolmogorov Complexity, assessing software complexity algorithmic information.
  - Data Flow Complexity, tracking software complexity information flow.
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Counter-Example(s):
- Software Performance Measures, which assess runtime efficiency rather than structural complexity.
- Software Reliability Measures, which evaluate failure probability rather than code complexity.
- Software Usability Measures, which gauge user experience rather than implementation complexity.
- Software Security Measures, which test vulnerability presence rather than structural intricacy.
- Hardware Complexity Measures, which analyze circuit complexity rather than software structure.
See: Software Engineering-Related Measure, Software Metric, Software Quality Metric, Code Quality Analysis, Software Maintainability, Technical Debt, Software Testing Effort, Cyclomatic Software Complexity Measure.