COSMIC functional size measurement using UML models

Abstract

Applying Functional Size Measurement (FSM) early in the software life cycle is critical for estimation purposes. COSMIC is a standardized (ISO 19761) FSM method. COSMIC has known a great success as it addresses different types of software in contrast to previous generations of FSM methods. On the other hand, the Unified Modeling Language (UML) is an industrial standard software specification and modeling language. In this paper, we present a literature survey and analysis of previous research work on how to apply COSMIC functional size measurement using UML models. Moreover, we introduce a UML-based framework targeting the automation of COSMIC FSM procedures. In particular, we discuss the motivation and the rationale behind our approach, which consists in extending UML through the design of a specific UML profile for COSMIC FSM to support appropriately functional size measurements of software using UML models. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.