Prediction of run-time failures using static product quality metrics

A study is presented in which it is determined whether software product metrics gathered statically from designs or source code may be helpful in predicting the number of run-time faults that will be encountered during execution. Metrics examined include intermodule metrics such as fan-in and fan-out, as well as intramodule metrics such as cyclomatic complexity and size. Our study indicates that it may be possible, with certain classes of software products, to predict the run-time behaviour using well-known static intermodule metrics. 0963-9314 (C) 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers.