Abstract
We propose a method to improve reproducibility whilst keeping accuracy for the Function Point Analysis (FPA) method. The proposed method is based on a new artifact model called Function Point Tree (FPT). FPT enables a standardized and systematic collection of all data required for FP counting. The new measurement method is called Function Point Tree-based Function Point Analysis (FPT-FPA). We designed FPT-FPA to comply with the IFPUG’s FPA steps. We implemented a prototype tool to show the feasibility of automation of the proposed method as well as to support its evaluation. We conducted an empirical study to evaluate FPT-FPA. Our results show general coefficients of variation lower than the maximum expected for both reproducibility and accuracy when compared to the standard FPA method.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
For the sake of simplicity, the term FPA is be used herein to refer to IFPUG’s FPA.
- 2.
Reproducibility is also referred as inter-rater reliability, i.e., the degree of agreement among raters; a score of homogeneity or consensus in ratings given by different raters.
- 3.
Part of Requirements Engineering-based Conceptual Modeling (REbCM) [22].
- 4.
A broader review was published before [18], aiming at any type of FPA improvement.
- 5.
The latest CPM version with no major changes is from 2000.
- 6.
The correct expected number of FPs achieved by the accurate FPA application.
- 7.
Requirements engineering and count FPs subprocesses are not detailed in this paper.
- 8.
Only 12 of 13 FPA PLs are used since the last one neither impacts the identification of the type nor contributes to the uniqueness of an elementary process.
- 9.
Standard deviation (of the values measured with FPTFPA relative to the average of such measured values) divided by the average of the values measured with FPTFPA.
- 10.
Standard deviation (of the values measured with FPTFPA relative to the IFPUG’s value) divided by the IFPUG’s value.
References
Abrahão, S., Insfrán, E.: A metamodeling approach to estimate software size from requirements specifications. In: 34th Euromicro Conference on Software Engineering and Advanced Applications, pp. 465–475 (2008)
Abrahão, S., Mendes, E., Gomez, J., Insfran, E.: A model-driven measurement procedure for sizing web applications: design, automation and validation. In: Engels, G., Opdyke, B., Schmidt, D.C., Weil, F. (eds.) MODELS 2007. LNCS, vol. 4735, pp. 467–481. Springer, Heidelberg (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-75209-7_32
Abrahão, S., Poels, G., Pastor, O.: Assessing the reproducibility and accuracy of functional size measurement methods through experimentation. In: International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering, pp. 189–198 (2004)
Adem, N.A.Z., Kasirun, Z.M.: Automating function points analysis based on functional and non functional requirements text. In: 2nd International Conference on Computer and Automation Engineering, pp. 664–669 (2010)
Albrecht, A.J.: Measuring application development productivity. In: Joint Share, Guide, and IBM Application Development Symposium, pp. 83–92 (1979)
Alves, L.M., Oliveira, S., Ribeiro, P., Machado, R.J.: An empirical study on the estimation of size and complexity of software applications with function points analysis. In: 6th International Workshop on Tools and Techniques in Software Development Process, pp. 27–34 (2014)
Basili, V.R., Rombach, H.D.: The TAME project: towards improvement-oriented software environments. IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 14(6), 758–773 (1998)
del Bianco, V., Lavazza, L., Morasca, S.: A proposal for simplified model-based cost estimation models. In: Dieste, O., Jedlitschka, A., Juristo, N. (eds.) PROFES 2012. LNCS, vol. 7343, pp. 59–73. Springer, Heidelberg (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31063-8_6
BIPM: International vocabulary of metrology - basic and general concepts and associated terms (VIM). Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, Joint Commit. for Guides in Metrology, 3 edn. (2012). http://www.bipm.org/en/publications/guides/vim.html
Cantone, G., Pace, D., Calavaro, G.: Applying function point to unified modeling language: conversion model and pilot study. In: 10th International Symposium on Software Metrics, pp. 280–291 (2004)
Chamundeswari, A., Babu, C.: An extended function point approach for size estimation of object-oriented software. In: 3rd India Software Engineering Conference, pp. 139–145 (2008)
Choi, S., Park, S., Sugumaran, V.: Function point extraction method from goal and scenario based requirements text. In: Kop, C., Fliedl, G., Mayr, H.C., Métais, E. (eds.) NLDB 2006. LNCS, vol. 3999, pp. 12–24. Springer, Heidelberg (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/11765448_2
Connolley, M.J.: An Empirical Study of Function Point Analysis Reliability. MIT, Cambridge (1990)
Easterbrook, S., Singer, J., Storey, M.A., Damian, D.: Selecting empirical methods for software engineering research. In: Shull, F., Singer, J., Sjøberg, D.I.K. (eds.) Guide to Advanced Empirical Software Engineering, pp. 285–311. Springer, London (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84800-044-5_11
Edagawa, T., Akaike, T., Higo, Y., Kusumoto, S., Hanabusa, S., Shibamoto, T.: Function point measurement from web application source code based on screen transitions and database accesses. J. Syt. Softw. 84(6), 976–984 (2011)
Fraternali, P., Tisi, M., Bongio, A.: Automating function point analysis with model driven development. In: 16th Conference of the Center for Advanced Studies on Collaborative Research, p. 18 (2006)
Freitas-Jr., M.D., Fantinato, M., Sun, V., Thom, L.H., Garaj, V.: Improving reproducibility whilst maintaining accuracy in function point analysis. In: 21st International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems, pp. 61–72 (2019)
de Freitas Junior, M., Fantinato, M., Sun, V.: Improvements to the function point analysis method: a systematic literature review. IEEE Trans. Eng. Manag. 62(4), 495–506 (2015)
Gencel, Ç., Demirörs, O.: Conceptual differences among functional size measurement methods. In: 1st International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement, pp. 305–313 (2007)
Harput, V., Kaindl, H., Kramer, S.: Extending function point analysis of object-oriented requirements specifications. In: 11th International Software Metrics Symposium, p. 39 (2005)
IFPUG: Function Point Counting Practices Manual, release 4.3.1. Int. Function Point Users Group, Westerville, Ohio (2010)
Insfrán, E., Pastor, O., Wieringa, R.: Requirements engineering-based conceptual modelling. Requirements Eng. 7(2), 61–72 (2002)
Kampenesa, V.B., Dybåa, T., Hannaya, J.E., Sjøberga, D.I.K.: A systematic review of quasi-experiments in software engineering. Inf. Softw. Technol. 51(1), 71–82 (2009)
Kemerer, C.F.: Reliability of function points measurement: a field experiment. Commun. ACM 36(2), 85–97 (1993)
Kitchenham, B.A., Känsälä, K.: Inter-item correlations among function points. In: 15th International Conference on Software Engineering, pp. 477–480 (1993)
Klusener, S.: Source code based function point analysis for enhancement projects. In: 29th International Conference on Software Maintenance, pp. 373–376 (2003)
Lagerström, R., Würtemberg, L.M., Holm, H., Luczak, O.: Identifying factors affecting software development cost and productivity. Softw. Qual. J. 20(2), 395–417 (2012)
Lamma, E.: A system for measuring function points from an ER-DFD specification. Comput. J. 47(3), 358–372 (2004)
Lavazza, L.: Automated function points: critical evaluation and discussion. In: IEEE/ACM 6th International Workshop on Emerging Trends in Software Metrics, pp. 25–43 (2015)
Lavazza, L.A., del Bianco, V., Garavaglia, C.: Model-based functional size measurement. In: 2nd International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement, pp. 100–109 (2008)
Lavazza, L.A., Morasca, S., Robiolo, G.: Towards a simplified definition of function points. Inf. Softw. Technol. 55(10), 1796–1809 (2013)
Low, G.C., Jeffery, D.R.: Function points in the estimation and evaluation of the software process. IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 16(1), 64–71 (1990)
Miyawaki, T., Iijima, J., Ho, S.: Measuring function points from VDM-SL specifications. In: 5th International Conference on Service Systems and Service Management, pp. 1–6 (2008)
OMG: Automated function points. Object Management Group, OMG Document Number PTC/2013-02-01 (2013). http://www.omg.org/spec/AFP/1.0
Pow-Sang, J.A., Villanueva, D., Flores, L., Rusu, C.: A conversion model and a tool to identify function point logic files using UML analysis class diagrams. In: Joint Conference of the 23rd International Workshop on Software Measurement and the 8th International Conference on Software Process and Product Measurement, pp. 126–134 (2013)
Quesada-López, C., Jenkins, M.: Function point structure and applicability: a replicated study. J. Object Technol. 15(3), 2:1–26 (2016)
Rao, K.K., Nagaraj, S., Ahuja, J., Apparao, G., Kumar, J.R., Raju, G.S.V.P.: Measuring the function points from the points of relationships of UML. In: 1st International Confernece on Computer and Electrical Engineering, pp. 748–752 (2008)
Uemura, T., Kusumoto, S., Inoue, K.: Function-point analysis using design specifications based on the Unified Modelling Language. J. of Softw. Maint. Res. Pract. 13(4), 223–243 (2001)
Wohlin, C., Runeson, P., Höst, M., Ohlsson, M.C., Regnell, B., Wesslén, A.: Experimentation in Software Engineering, 1st edn. Springer, Heidelberg (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29044-2
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
de Freitas, M., Fantinato, M., Sun, V., Thom, L.H., Garaj, V. (2020). Function Point Tree-Based Function Point Analysis: Improving Reproducibility Whilst Maintaining Accuracy in Function Point Counting. In: Filipe, J., Śmiałek, M., Brodsky, A., Hammoudi, S. (eds) Enterprise Information Systems. ICEIS 2019. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 378. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40783-4_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40783-4_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-40782-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-40783-4
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)