Software measurement and analysis: a case study in collaborative research

The Alvey Programme, sponsored by the UK government in 1983, encouraged academic and industrial institutions to work together to develop leading-edge research. One of the four major themes of the program was software engineering, which was further subdivided into (a) formal methods, (b) reliability and metrics, and (c) IPSEs (Integrated Project Support Environments). The author discusses one Alvey project that was unusual inasmuch as it encompassed both (a) and (b). The major objective of the project was to develop rigorous techniques for analyzing and measuring structural properties of systems. The author describes the achievements and failures of the project, the lessons to be learned, and how the very perception of software measurement changed fundamentally during the project. There are recommendations both for future research work in this area and for the nature of future collaborative projects.<>