Complexity

• Measuring complexity: Halstead Complexity Measures Measures complexity at the function level like so:
  • number of distinct operators (function calls, syntax elements)
  • number of distinct operands (variables)
  • total number of operators (how often you use those operands)
  • total number of operands (how oftern you use those variables)
  • By refactoring code into smaller methods, you can reduce the number of distinct operators and operands in a function, moving that complexity to another location. However do this too much and you would end up increasing the number of distinct operators.
• Types of complexity in technology:
  • branching complexity - how many different outcomes are there?
  • data access complexity - are there permissions
• Measuring complexity in object-oriented programming
  • (Chidamber, S.R.; Kemerer, C.F. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering Volume 20, Issue 6, Jun 1994 Page(s):476 - 493)
  • methods per class
  • coupling between object classes
  • response for a class(?)
  • number of children
  • depth of inheritance tree
  • lack of cohesion of methods
• Examples of product level complexity:
  • Authentication / Permissons: number of users, roles, permissions.
• Is there a way to quantify complexity at the UX and/or product level? #Open Questions