Four common pitfalls in using software metrics for project management

ERIC BOUWERS, SOFTWARE IMPROVEMENT GROUP AND DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

JOOST VISSER, SOFTWARE IMPROVEMENT GROUP AND RADBOUD UNIVERSITY NIJMEGEN

ARIE VAN DEURSEN, DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Software metrics—helpful tools or a waste of time? For every developer who treasures these mathematical abstractions of software systems there is a developer who thinks software metrics are invented just to keep project managers busy. Software metrics can be very powerful tools that help achieve your goals but it is important to use them correctly, as they also have the power to demotivate project teams and steer development in the wrong direction.

http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=2229115

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