The Role of Metrics in Object-Oriented Software Development:Some issues

DeMarco(1982) once said: You can neither predict nor control what you can not measure. Werner Karl Heisenberg said: "Since the measuring device has be constructed by the observer....we have to remember that what we observe is not nature in itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning" (in "Physics and Philosophy" (1958)). These fundamental realities underlie the importance of software metrics. The intent of Software engineering is to provide a framework for building software with higher quality. Software metrics provide a quantative basis for the development and validation of models of the software development process. Metrics can be used to improve software productivity and quality. This paper presents the current state of metrics and discusses the role of object- oriented metrics in object-oriented development.