More Web Proxy on the site http://driver.im/

article

Free access

Extending Halstead's software science for a more precise measure of APL

Authors:

A. Harry WilliamsAuthors Info & Claims

ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad, Volume 13, Issue 1

Pages 207 - 213

https://doi.org/10.1145/390006.802245

Published: 26 July 1982 Publication History

Abstract

Software engineering is a growing part of computer science. Software engineering attempts to put measurements and metrics into the area of software programming. One of these metrics, Halstead's software science [1], measures a program's difficulty, a language level, and in turn, a programmer's productivity. Software science uses an extensive measure as opposed to the intensive measure of most other software engineering techniques. This is accomplished by counting functions and operands, and applying several formulae modified from thermodynamics. Even though software science attempts to place an objective measurement on these parameters, it is not meant to be a definitive decision tool, but rather a general guideline. This paper will explore the possible extension of Halstead's theory to include operators, as defined in APL, in the counting methodology and software science formulae.

References

[1]

Halstead, M.H., "Elements of Software Science," Elsevier North-Holland Inc., N.Y., 1977.

Digital Library

[2]

Fitzsimmons, A. and Love, T., "A Review and Evaluation of Software Science," ACM Computing Surveys (March 1978).

Digital Library

[3]

APL Language, Form No. GC26-3847, IBM Corporation.

[4]

Iverson, K.E., "The Role of Operators in APL," APL 79 Conference Proceedings (June 1979).

Digital Library

[5]

Elshoff, J.L., "An Investigation into the Effects of the Counting Method Used on Software Science Measurements," ACM SIGPLAN Notices (February 1978).

Digital Library

[6]

De Kerf, Joseph L.F. "APL and Halstead's Theory of Software Metrics," APL 81 Conference Proceedings (September 1981).

Digital Library

[7]

Brown, J.A., "Evaluating Extensions to APL," APL 79 Conference Proceedings (June 1979).

Digital Library

[8]

Christensen K., Fitsos, G.P., Smith, C.P., "A Perspective on Software Science," IBM Systems Journal (Vol 20, #4, 1981).

Digital Library

[9]

Curtis, B., Sheppard, S.B., Milliman, P., Borst, M.A., and Love, T., "Measuring the Psychological Complexity of Software Maintenance Tasks with Halstead and McCabe Metrics," IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (March 1979).

Digital Library

[10]

Elshoff, J.L., "Measuring Commercial PL/I Programs using Halstead's Criteria," ACM SIGPLAN Notices (May 1976).

Digital Library

[11]

Elshoff, J.L., "An Analysis of Some Commercial PL/I Programs," IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (June 1976).

Digital Library

[12]

Fitzsimmons, A. and Love, T. with Moranda, P.B. and Baker, T.P. in Surveyor's Forum of ACM Computing Surveys (December 1978).

Digital Library

[13]

Goel, A.L., Syracuse University, Unpublished class notes.

[14]

Halstead, M.H. and Schneider, V., "Self Assessment Procedure dealing with Software Science," Communications of the ACM (August 1980).

[15]

Iverson, K.E., "The Derivative Operator," APL 79 Conference Proceedings (June 1979).

Digital Library

[16]

Iverson, K.E., "Notation as a Tool of Thought," Communications of the ACM (August 1980).

Digital Library

[17]

Love, T., "An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Program Structure on Programming Understanding," ACM SIGPLAN Notices (March 1977), ACM OPERATING SYSTEMS Review (April 1977), ACM SOFTWARE ENGINEERING Notes (March 1977).

Digital Library

Cited By

De Kerf J(1986)APL compared with other languages according to Halstead's theoryACM SIGPLAN Notices10.1145/382282.38241921:1(31-39)Online publication date: 1-Jan-1986
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/382282.382419
Sinha AYilmaz C(2009)Software MetricsWiley Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Engineering10.1002/9780470050118.ecse388(2621-2635)Online publication date: 16-Mar-2009
https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470050118.ecse388
van Batenburg Fde Kerf J(1998)APL Extended Compared With Other Languages According to Halstead's TheoryACM SIGPLAN Notices10.1145/284563.60914033:6(54)Online publication date: 1-Jun-1998
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/284563.609140
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Extending Halstead's software science for a more precise measure of APL

Recommendations

Extending Halstead's software science for a more precise measure of APL
APL '82: Proceedings of the international conference on APL

Software engineering is a growing part of computer science. Software engineering attempts to put measurements and metrics into the area of software programming. One of these metrics, Halstead's software science [1], measures a program's difficulty, a ...
Software Science Applied to APL

Previous attempts to apply Halstead's software metrics to APL have led to inconsistent and counter-intuitive results. This work is a further investigation into the application of software metrics to APL to try to resolve some of the inconsistency. The ...
APL and Halstead's theory of software metrics
APL '81: Proceedings of the international conference on APL

The increasing complexity of computer programs and of the development of systems creates an ever growing need of objective methods for measuring the quality of software. A theory providing this measure to some extent has been developed in the last ...

Comments

Please enable JavaScript to view thecomments powered by Disqus.

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad

ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad Volume 13, Issue 1

September 1982

380 pages

ISSN:0163-6006

DOI:10.1145/390006

Editors:
W. H. Janko
Univ. Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany
,
W. Stucky
Univ. Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany

Issue’s Table of Contents

APL '82: Proceedings of the international conference on APL
July 1982
396 pages
ISBN:0897910788
DOI:10.1145/800071
Chairmen:
M. Bergen,
W. H. Janko,
C. O. Köhler,
K. Waller

Copyright © 1982 Authors.

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 26 July 1982

Published in SIGAPL Volume 13, Issue 1

Check for updates

Qualifiers

Article

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

7
Total Citations
View Citations
416
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)47
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)12

Reflects downloads up to 13 Jan 2025

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

De Kerf J(1986)APL compared with other languages according to Halstead's theoryACM SIGPLAN Notices10.1145/382282.38241921:1(31-39)Online publication date: 1-Jan-1986
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/382282.382419
Sinha AYilmaz C(2009)Software MetricsWiley Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Engineering10.1002/9780470050118.ecse388(2621-2635)Online publication date: 16-Mar-2009
https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470050118.ecse388
van Batenburg Fde Kerf J(1998)APL Extended Compared With Other Languages According to Halstead's TheoryACM SIGPLAN Notices10.1145/284563.60914033:6(54)Online publication date: 1-Jun-1998
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/284563.609140
Janko W(1987)Investigation into the efficiency of using APL for the programming of an inference machineACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad10.1145/384282.2837217:4(450-456)Online publication date: 1-Jan-1987
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/384282.28372
Janko W(1987)Investigation into the efficiency of using APL for the programming of an inference machineProceedings of the international conference on APL: APL in transition10.1145/28315.28372(450-456)Online publication date: 1-Jan-1987
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/28315.28372
Hooker RKallin S(1984)APL programmingProceedings of the international conference on APL10.1145/800058.801100(207-211)Online publication date: 11-Jun-1984
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/800058.801100
Hooker R(1984)APL programmingACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad10.1145/384283.80110014:4(207-211)Online publication date: 1-Jun-1984
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/384283.801100

View Options

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

eReader

View online with eReader.

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Full Access

Get this Publication

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

View Issue’s Table of Contents