Predictive Software Measures based on Z Specifications - A Case Study
This work addresses the need for reliable early estimation in software development, though it is incremental as it applies existing methods to a specific case study.
The study tackled the problem of early effort and quality estimation in software projects by examining metrics from formal Z specifications and their correlation with code measures, finding that these metrics can serve as practical predictors for complexity and quality.
Estimating the effort and quality of a system is a critical step at the beginning of every software project. It is necessary to have reliable ways of calculating these measures, and, it is even better when the calculation can be done as early as possible in the development life-cycle. Having this in mind, metrics for formal specifications are examined with a view to correlations to complexity and quality-based code measures. A case study, based on a Z specification and its implementation in ADA, analyzes the practicability of these metrics as predictors.