Software metrology: Foundations, concepts and techniques for improving quantitative management in software engineering

在整个行业和科学界，测量作为一种基础研究工具无处不在。在软件工程中，“软件度量”也被提出作为定量工具的选择，而对这些“度量”的分析通常只从被称为“度量理论”的角度进行。然而，在其他学科中，被称为计量学的更全面的知识领域是开发和使用测量仪器和测量过程的基础。在软件工程文献中，许多实践者和研究人员提出了数百种‘软件度量’或‘软件度量’。为了帮助评估他们设计的软件度量的质量，研究人员提出了各种软件度量验证的方法，但这些方法还没有被软件度量的设计者或用户广泛使用。为了应对软件测量设计和验证方面的挑战，本研究项目采用了计量学领域更全面的一套概念和实践，以进行强有力的测量方法设计。 在这个研究项目中，我们在我们以前的研究成果的基础上，开发和设计了一种与度量相关的软件度量方法。研究方案将特别解决需要对软件计量进行更深入研究的科学空白，例如生产力基准、估计模型和非功能性需求的衡量，包括软件的可维护性、安全性、可移植性等。 这项研究计划是与参与ISO、IEEE标准化组织的软件测量领域的国际专家密切合作进行的，在过去的15年里，我们与这些专家进行了广泛的合作。这项研究计划将为第二代软件测量方法的开发和在工业中的实施奠定基础。该研究计划还旨在为改进ISO和IEEE的软件度量标准做出贡献。

Throughout the industry, and the scientific community, measurement is pervasive as a fundamental research tool. In software engineering, 'software metrics' are also proposed as the quantitative tools of choice, and analysis of these 'metrics' was most often carried out only from the perspective referred to as 'measurement theory'. However, in other disciplines it is the much more comprehensive domain of knowledge referred to as 'metrology' that is the foundation for the development and use of measurement instruments and measurement processes. In the software engineering literature, numerous practitioners and researchers have proposed hundreds of 'software measures', or 'software metrics'. To help assess the quality of the software metrics they designed, researchers have proposed various approaches to software measurement validation, none of which has yet been widely used by either designers or users of software measures. To tackle the challenges in the design and validation of software measures, this research program adopts the more comprehensive set of concepts and practices from the domain of metrology for strong designs of measurement methods. In this research program, we build upon our previous research results to develop and design a metrology related approach to software measurement. The research program will, in particular, tackle the scientific gaps where more in-depth research on software measurement is required, for instance for productivity benchmarking, for estimation models and for the measurement of non-functional requirements, including software maintainability, security, portability, etc. This research program is carried out in close cooperation with international experts in software measurement participating in standardization groups wihtin ISO, the IEEE and with whom we have collaborated extensively over the past 15 years. This research program will improve the foundations for the development, and implementation in industry, of a second generation of software measurement methods. This research program also aims at contributing to the improvement of sofware measurements standards within ISO and IEEE.