Software measurement practices are so bad that the industry has very sparse reliable data on software schedules, costs, quality, and productivity. Much of the available data is incorrect, incomplete, or both. This book provides quantified software results by country, by industry, by technology, by application size, and by other factors.

Going where no book on software measurement and metrics has previously gone, this critique thoroughly examines a number of bad measurement practices, hazardous metrics, and huge gaps and omissions in the software literature that neglect important topics in measurement. The book covers the major gaps and omissions that need to be filled if data about software development is to be useful for comparisons or estimating future projects.Among the more serious gaps are leaks in reporting about software development efforts that, if not corrected, can distort data and make benchmarks almost useless...