Comparison of Software Complexity Metrics

Abstract

One of the main problems in software engineering is the inherent complexity. Complexity metric is used to estimate various parameters such as software development cost, amount of time needed for implementation and number of tests required. In this paper, different software complexity models are critically studied and compared. For application, quick sort algorithm is considered. The programs are written in three object oriented languages: C++, Visual Basic and Java. Software complexity for each program is found using the four popular LOC, McCabe, Halstead and Cognitive models. The results are compared.