Metrics For Testing

What is a Metric?

‘Metric’ is a measure to quantify software, software development resources, and/or the software development process. A Metric can quantify any of the following factors:
· Schedule,
· Work Effort,
· Product Size,
· Project Status, and
· Quality Performance

Measuring enables….
Metrics enables estimation of future work.
That is, considering the case of testing - Deciding the product is fit for shipment or delivery depends on the rate the defects are found and fixed. Defect collected and fixed is one kind of metric. (www.processimpact.com)
As defined in the MISRA Report,
It is beneficial to classify metrics according to their usage. IEEE 928.1 [4] identifies two classes:
i) Process – Activities performed in the production of the Software
ii) Product – An output of the Process, for example the software or its documentation.


Defects are analyzed to identify which are the major causes of defect and which is the phase that introduces most defects. This can be achieved by performing Pareto analysis of defect causes and defect introduction phases. The main requirements for any of these analysis is Software Defect Metrics.