Measuring Tests using COSMIC
by T. Fehlmann & E. Kranich
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is not limited to software development, mobile apps and ICT service management but percolates into all kind of products with the so-called Internet of Things.
Developing software is knowledge acquisition, not civil engineering. Thus knowledge might be missing and consequently leading to software defects and failures to perform. In turn, operating ICT products involves connecting ICT services with human interaction, and is error-prone as well.
There is much value in delivering software without defects. However, up to now there exists no agreed method of measuring defects in ICT. UML sequence diagrams is a software model that describes data movements between actors and objects and allows for automated measurements using ISO/IEC 19761 COSMIC. Can we also use it for defect measurements that allows applying standard Six Sigma techniques to ICT by measuring both functional size and defect density in the same model? It allows sizing of functionality and defects even if no code is available. ISO/IEC 19761 measurements are linear, thus fitting to sprints in agile development as well as for using statistical tools from Six Sigma.
