Applying Test Case Metrics in a Tool Supported Iterative Architecture and Code Improvement Process

Authors:
Matthias Vianden;Horst Lichter;Tobias Rötschke
Affiliations:
Research Group Software Construction, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany 52074;Research Group Software Construction, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany 52074;SOPTIM AG, Aachen, Germany 52072
Venue:
IWSM '09 /Mensura '09 Proceedings of the International Conferences on Software Process and Product Measurement
Year:
2009

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Abstract

In order to support an iterative architecture and code improvement process a dedicated code analysis tool has been developed. But introducing the process and the tool in a medium sized company is always accompanied by difficulties, like understanding improvement needs. We therefore decided to use test effort as the central communication metaphor for code complexity. Hence, we developed a metric suite to calculate the number of test cases needed for branch coverage and (modified) boundary interior test. This paper introduces the developed metrics and also presents a case study performed at a medium sized software company to evaluate our approach. The main part of this paper is dedicated to the interpretation and comparison of the metrics. Finally their application in an iterative code improvement process is investigated.