Towards the Formalization of Software Measurement by Involving Network Theory

Complex network theory is based on a graph theory and statistical analysis. Software network is a sub-class of complex network and is usually represented by directed graphs representing relationships between software entities. Software metrics is a (numerical) measure that reflects some property of a software product or its specification. The goal of this paper is to set relationship between particular software metrics and corresponding measures from complex networks theory, including software networks. That relationship will help in discovering potentially new and useful metrics that are based on complex networks. Furthermore, it will narrow the gap between two similar research areas that is often too big. The specific goal of this paper is to present the method how the relationships can be established.