Publisher's Synopsis
This handbook draws on the results of a DTI research programme into software metrics, DESMET. Metrics is sometimes viewed as an isolated area of software engineering, strong on theory and short on how it can realistically be used as a set of techniques that employ statistical methods to improve the effectiveness of designing and maintaining information systems.;This book explains how to evaluate software engineering methods and tools. It is built around the evaluation methods set out in the DTI's DESMET method, and gives detailed coverage of: selecting an appropriate evaluation method; performing quantitive case studies; performing formal experiments; and performing qualitative evaluations.;For students, the book sets out an appproach to the formal validation by experiment of software engineering concepts. It should also be useful for training in the professional market, in helping managers of IT development programmes select and evaluate methods and tools. Barbara Kitchenham's work on the STARTS programme gives the book a software process improvement stance which distinguishes it from previous publications in the field, and shows how metrics should be applied in a real world environment.
