ABSTRACT

Metrics help in identifying potential problem areas and finding these problems in the phase they are developed decreases the cost and avoids major ripple effects from these in later development stages. These days, Object Oriented Paradigm is mainly used for all practical purposes, hence accessing Object Oriented Systems is a major research area in Software Engineering. As proved by researchers Procedural metrics are unfit for measuring various OO characteristics. Many researchers have proposed different OO metrics suite. This paper discusses the most commonly used OO metrics suite (CK, MOOD & LI) on the basis of characteristic they measure. An advanced metric for inheritance is also discussed. The strengths and weaknesses of all these are identified. The paper concludes by identifying that none of the metrics suite is full proof and there are flaws in almost all of them. Moreover, there is no single metric that can measure all the aspects of an OO System. Rather some of the suites have been found to be complimentary. Also, the paper stresses on the fact that metrics should not be treated as rules. Rather appropriate metrics identified using GQM approach act as indicators of the progress that a project has made.