Spatial measures of software complexity

This paper introduces a set of simple software complexity metrics that has been inspired by developments within cognitive psychology. Complexity measures are constructed by analysing the distance between components of a program. The greater the distance between program fragments, the greater the resulting spatial complexity of a program. Suggestions are made as to how spatial complexity measures can be tailored to individual programmer teams. Using these metrics, the complexity of a software system can be adjusted using subjective measures of programmer experience and knowledge. A related set of simple object-oriented metrics based around the same principles of are also suggested. Finally, a number of further research possibilities are suggested. Index Terms : Software metrics, software complexity, psychological complexity, spatial reasoning, object-oriented programming, human-factors in software engineering, programmer experience, software maintenance.