Flater, D.
(2018),
'Software Science' revisited: rationalizing Halstead's system using dimensionless units, Technical Note (NIST TN), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.1990
(Accessed October 14, 2025)
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'Software Science' revisited: rationalizing Halstead's system using dimensionless units
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Abstract
The set of software metrics introduced by Maurice H. Halstead in the 1970's has seen much scrutiny and not infrequent criticism. This article takes a fresh look at these metrics using quantity calculus (the algebra of units) and a new approach to dimensionless units. In this way, it is possible to assign units to the major Halstead metrics in a manner that is logically consistent. However, Halstead's repurposing of counts of software attributes as counts of unobservable mental events leads to a less plausible, more confusing set of metrics for coding effort than for software attributes.Citation
Technical Note (NIST TN) - 1990
Report Number
1990
NIST Pub Series
Pub Type
NIST Pubs
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Created May 9, 2018, Updated November 10, 2018