GQM,theinitialismforgoal, question, metric,is an establishedgoal-orientedapproach tosoftware metricsto improve and measure software quality.[1]

Goal Question Metric (GQM) Paradigm
Illustration of the goal–question–metric (GQM) paradigm

History

edit

GQM has been promoted byVictor Basiliof theUniversity of Maryland, College Parkand the Software Engineering Laboratory at theNASAGoddard Space Flight Center[2]after supervising a Ph.D. thesis by Dr. David M. Weiss.[3]Dr. Weiss' work was inspired by the work of Albert Endres at IBM Germany.[4][5][6]

Method

edit

GQM defines ameasurementmodel on three levels:[7]

1. Conceptual level (Goal)
Agoalis defined for an object, for a variety of reasons, with respect to various models of quality, from various points of view and relative to a particular environment.
2. Operational level (Question)
A set of questions is used to define models of the object of study and then focuses on that object to characterize the assessment or achievement of a specific goal.
3. Quantitative level (Metric)[8]
A set of metrics, based on the models, is associated with every question in order to answer it in a measurable way.

GQM stepwise

edit

Another interpretation of the procedure is:[9]

  1. Planning
  2. Definition
  3. Data collection
  4. Interpretation

Sub-steps

edit

Sub-steps are needed for each phases. To complete thedefinition phase,an eleven-step procedure is proposed:[9]

  1. Define measurement goals
  2. Review or produce software process models
  3. Conduct GQM interviews
  4. Define questions and hypotheses
  5. Review questions and hypotheses
  6. Define metrics
  7. Check metrics on consistency and completeness
  8. Produce GQM plan
  9. Produce measurement plan
  10. Produce analysis plan
  11. Review plans

Recent developments

edit

TheGQM+Strategiesapproach was developed byVictor Basiliand a group of researchers from theFraunhofer Society.[10]It is based on the Goal Question Metric paradigm and adds the capability to create measurement programs that ensure alignment between business goals and strategies, software-specific goals, and measurement goals.

Novel application of GQM towards business data are described.[11]Specifically in the software engineering areas of Quality assurance and Testing, GQM is used.[12]

Further reading

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^"Goal/Question/Metric (GQM) – The Making of Software".Retrieved2021-03-18.
  2. ^"Software Engineering Division/Code 580".sed.gsfc.nasa.gov.Retrieved2021-03-18.
  3. ^Basili, V. R.; Weiss, D. M. (November 1984)."A Methodology for Collecting Valid Software Engineering Data".IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering.SE-10 (6): 728–738.doi:10.1109/TSE.1984.5010301.hdl:1903/7513.ISSN1939-3520.S2CID10114944.
  4. ^"Homepage Albert Endres".aendres.de.Retrieved2021-03-18.
  5. ^Endres, Albert (2003).A handbook of software and systems engineering: empirical observations, laws, and theories.H. Dieter Rombach. Harlow, England: Pearson Addison Wesley.ISBN0-321-15420-7.OCLC50417309.
  6. ^Endres, Albert (1975-04-01)."An analysis of errors and their causes in system programs".ACM SIGPLAN Notices.10(6): 327–336.doi:10.1145/390016.808455.ISSN0362-1340.
  7. ^Basili, V.; Caldiera, G.; Rombach, H. D. (1994). "The Goal Question Metric Approach".S2CID13884048.{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|url=(help)
  8. ^Huether, Derek (2020).Metrics Cookbook.p. 11.ISBN9798586916082.
  9. ^abSolingen, Rini van (1999).The goal/question/metric method: a practical guide for quality improvement of software development.Egon Berghout. London: McGraw-Hill.ISBN0-07-709553-7.OCLC43551689.
  10. ^Basili, V.R.; J. Heidrich; M. Lindvall; J. Münch; C.B. Seaman; M. Regardie; A. Trendowicz (2009). "Determining the impact of business strategies using principles from goal-oriented measurement".Business Services: Konzepte, Technologien, Anwendungen. 9. Internationale Tagung Wirtschaftsinformatik.Books OCG. Vienna, Austria: Österreichische Computer Gesellschaft.ISBN978-3-85403-246-5.
  11. ^Southekal, Prashanth H. (2017).Data for business performance: the Goal-Question-Metric (GQM) model to transform business data into an enterprise asset.Basking Ridge, NJ.ISBN978-1-63462-184-7.OCLC970616125.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. ^Witte, Frank (2018), Witte, Frank (ed.),"Goal Question Metric",Metriken für das Testreporting: Analyse und Reporting für wirkungsvolles Testmanagement(in German), Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien, pp. 145–150,doi:10.1007/978-3-658-19845-9_22,ISBN978-3-658-19845-9,retrieved2021-03-18