A Software Defect Indicator is a pattern that can be found in
source code
In computing, source code, or simply code or source, is a plain text computer program written in a programming language. A programmer writes the human readable source code to control the behavior of a computer.
Since a computer, at base, only ...
that is strongly correlated with a
software defect, an error or omission in the source code of a computer program that may cause it to malfunction. When inspecting the source code of
computer program
A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to Execution (computing), execute. It is one component of software, which also includes software documentation, documentation and other intangibl ...
s, it is not always possible to identify defects directly, but there are often patterns, sometimes called
anti-pattern
An anti-pattern in software engineering, project management, and business processes is a common response to a recurring problem that is usually ineffective and risks being highly counterproductive. The term, coined in 1995 by computer programmer An ...
s, indicating that defects are present.
Some examples of Software Defect Indicators:
* Disabled Code: Code has been written and the
programmer
A programmer, computer programmer or coder is an author of computer source code someone with skill in computer programming.
The professional titles Software development, ''software developer'' and Software engineering, ''software engineer' ...
has disabled it, or switched it off, without making it clear why it has been disabled, or when or whether it will be re-enabled.
* Routine Too Complex: A program (method, module, routine, subroutine, procedure, or any named block of code) contains more than 10 binary terms in conditional statements.
* Unused Variables: Unreferenced variables are a strong indicator for other errors.
* Number of Distinct Committers: The amount of unique developers that have made contributions to a project's commit history. This is a process metric that is useful in indicating software defects.
[Madeyski, Lech, and Marian Jureczko. “Which Process Metrics Can Significantly Improve Defect Prediction Models? An Empirical Study.” Software Quality Journal 23.3 (2015): 393–422. Web.]
See also
*
Cyclomatic complexity
*
Anti-pattern
An anti-pattern in software engineering, project management, and business processes is a common response to a recurring problem that is usually ineffective and risks being highly counterproductive. The term, coined in 1995 by computer programmer An ...
*
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to Execution (computing), execute. It is one component of software, which also includes software documentation, documentation and other intangibl ...
*
Computer programming
Computer programming or coding is the composition of sequences of instructions, called computer program, programs, that computers can follow to perform tasks. It involves designing and implementing algorithms, step-by-step specifications of proc ...
*
Control flow
In computer science, control flow (or flow of control) is the order in which individual statements, instructions or function calls of an imperative program are executed or evaluated. The emphasis on explicit control flow distinguishes an '' ...
*
Software engineering
Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining Application software, software applications. It involves applying engineering design process, engineering principl ...
References
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External links
NIST Special Publication 500-235 Structured Testing: A Testing Methodology Using the Cyclomatic Complexity Metric
Software metrics