METRIX : a new tool to evaluate the quality of software source codes

Antoine Varet (1) , Nicolas Larrieu (1) , Léo Sartre (2)

1 TELECOM - ENAC - Equipe télécommunications
2 TELECOM-RESCO

In this paper we will try to answer the question: how to evaluate the quality of software automatically produced by code generation process in the domain of aeronautical embedded systems? To do so, we will introduce our new Open Source tool " METRIX " capable of computing different software quality metrics. Each of them gives information on quality of both the source code and the binary software for the embedded system we want to assess. METRIX is able to evaluate software written in C and ADA languages. There is a specific module which is able to compute the most efficient line of compilation in order to minimize size of code or time of execution for the final binary. Lots of metrics can be considered for software evaluation but in this paper, we will discuss only the three most popular: Lines of Code (LoC), metrics of Halstead (volume of source code, complexity of the algorithm) and cyclomatic complexity of McCabe. This research may help software engineers to improve their aeronautical system verification and validation process and this paper will give them a complete overview of how METRIX software works, how it produces a quality software comparison and how it proposes enhanced visualization features (Kiviat and City map diagrams for instance). A specific aeronautical case study (secure embedded aeronautical router) will be discussed and will demonstrate how this new software can improve the verification and validation steps of a complete industrial project.

Domaines: Réseaux et télécommunications [cs.NI]

Antoine Varet, Nicolas Larrieu, Léo Sartre. METRIX : a new tool to evaluate the quality of software source codes. I@A 2013, AIAA Infotech@Aerospace Conference, Aug 2013, Boston, United States. pp xxxx, ⟨10.2514/6.2013-4567⟩. ⟨hal-00925197⟩