Experiences of Fault Data in a Large Software System
Niclas Ohlsson, Claes Wohlin · Failure and Lessons Learned in Information Technology Management · 1998
Early identification of fault-prone modules is desirable both from developer and customer per-spectives since it supports planning and scheduling activities that facilitate cost avoidance and improved time to market. Large scale software systems are rarely built from scratch, and usu-ally involve modification and enhancement of existing systems. This suggest that development planning and software quality could greatly be enhanced, since knowledge about product com-plexity and quality of previous releases can be taken into account when making improvements in subsequent projects. In this paper we present results from empirical studies at Ericsson Tele-com AB which examine the use of metrics to predict fault-prone modules in successive prod-uct releases. The results show that such prediction appears to be possible and has the potential to enhance project maintenance. Tables wrongly numbered and text is missing. See paper copy! 1