An Information Theory Word-Based Metric to Evaluate Software Maintainability and Reusability

摘要

The English language and its use in software is a significant factor in its ability to be reused because it impacts largely on understandability and maintainability. The choice of naming convention for programming variables (classes, methods, variables, etc.) in representing the problem domain is critical. Presently there is no known method other than visual inspection to judge maintainability and reusability on the basis of program element names. However, information theory may be helpful in assessing these attributes by determining the degree of descriptiveness of program variables. Scoring the programming variable names and comparing them to words used in the English language, even unique words in a problem domain, would allow for the automation of maintainability and reusability assessments on this basis.