Suite of metrics for software quality assurance and product development

A computer-implemented method for measuring a complexity of nested object state transition diagrams that are represented as data structures in the computer, the complexity measuring method comprising:

• a) using the computer, determining a plurality of graphs of object state transitions at K levels lk, wherein:
• (A) 0<k<K;
• (B) one or more of said graphs at level lk+1 are expansions of one or more of said graphs at level lk;
• and
• (C) said graphs comprise a plurality of nodes to represent a corresponding plurality of states of use-cases and a plurality of edges to represent a corresponding plurality of transitions between the states;
• and
• b) using the computer, determining a complexity for said plurality of graphs, the complexity determining step including measuring a nested object state transition complexity between two super-states by recursively applying Equation 6:
• STPC
• k
• ,
• p
• ,
• q
• =
• ∑
• i
• =
• 1
• m
• k
• ⁢
• (
• ∏
• j
• =
• 1
• n
• k
• ,
• i
• ⁢
• ⁢
• (
• C
• k
• ,
• i
• ,
• j
• +
• (
• STPC
• k
• +
• 1
• ,
• i
• ,
• j
• -
• sub
• k
• ,
• i
• ,
• j
• )
• )
• +
• mul
• k
• ,
• i
• ⁡
• (
• N
• )
• )
• Equation
• ⁢
• ⁢
• 6
• wherein:
• mk=a number of transition paths of level-k object (k>1) between two super-states or a number of transition paths of level-1 object;
• nk,i=a number of states along path i for level-k object;
• Ck,i,j is a number of conditions to bring level-k object state from Sk,i,j−1 to Sk,i,j;
• STPCk+1,i,j=Substate Transition Complexity between state Sk,i,j−1 and Sk,i,j;
• subk,i,j=0 if STPCk+1,i,j=0 and subk,i,j=1 if (STPCk+1,i,j≠0);
• if a multiplicity between level-k object and level-(k+1) is 1:N, then mulk,i(N)=0 if (N=1) and mulk,i(N)=r if (N>1);
• and
• r is a number of times that level-k+1 objects transit back to level-k in path i.