Cyclomatic Complexity: theme and variations

Authors

Brian Henderson-Sellers, University of New South Wales, AustraliaFollow
Yagna Raj Pant, University of New South Wales, AustraliaFollow
June M. Vemer, University of New South Wales, AustraliaFollow

Document Type

Research Article

Abstract

Focussing on the "McCabe family" of measures for the decision/logic structure of a program, leads to an evaluation of extensions to modularization, nesting and, potentially, to object-oriented program structures. A comparison of rated, operating and essential complexities of programs suggests two new metrics: "inessential complexity" as a measure of unstructuredness and "product complexity" as a potential objective measure of structural complexity. Finally, nesting and abstraction levels are considered, especially as to how metrics from the "McCabe family" might be applied in an object-oriented systems development environment.

Recommended Citation

Henderson-Sellers, Brian; Pant, Yagna Raj; and Vemer, June M. (1993) "Cyclomatic Complexity: theme and variations," The Australasian Journal of Information Systems: Vol. 1: No. 1, Article 13.
Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/ajis/vol1/iss1/13