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@pagefooting(immediate, left "@c<Technical Report 1996>",
center "@c<Computer Science>",
right "@c<Carnegie Mellon>")
@heading(Software Metrics for Distributed Development)
@heading(CMU-CS-96-190)
@center(@b(Bernd Bruegge, Allen H. Dutoit@foot<Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University.>))
@center(November 1996)
@center(FTP: CMU-CS-96-190.ps)
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@begin(text)

In this paper, we present empirical evidence that metrics based on
communication artifacts generated and recorded by groupware tools can
be used to gain significant insight into the distributed development
process that generated them. Moreover, we demonstrate that such
communication metrics can provide better insights in the quality of
processes and products than metrics based on outcome (e.g., function
points, lines of code, words of documents). Most important, they can
be uniformly applied throughout the process, independently of
implementation technology, development infrastructure, or the
existence of a product.

We discuss our approach in developing and testing the use of communication
metrics for distributed developments. We present a testbed for distributed
development, a senior level software engineering project course at Carnegie
Mellon University, in which we conducted several studies and experiments
from 1991 to 1996 with more than 400 participants. Such a testbed
represents an ideal environment for empirical software engineering,
providing sufficient realism while allowing for controlled observation of
important project parameters. We present three proof-of-concept experiments
to illustrate the value of communication metrics in distributed and
evolving development projects. Finally, we propose a statistical framework
based on structural equations for testing hypotheses in an environment
characterized by constant change.

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@begin(transparent,size=10)
@b(Keywords:@ )@c<Metrics, empirical software engineering, distributed
development>
@end(transparent)
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@end(text)
@flushright(@b[(22 pages)])