ABSTRACT
In competitive circumstances managers must strive to reduce the costs and improve the quality of the software produced. Reuse of software has long been advocated as a means of achieving these ends. The software production process can be regarded as a system. From the viewpoint of the client the inputs are the client’s requirements and the outputs are executable code and manuals. If the software already exists and is to be changed then the old software is also an input and the client expects to find much of it unchanged in the new software. Measurements are essential for planning, controlling and improving both the software production process and the quality of the product. Planning requires estimates of both the resources required by, and the duration of, each stage of the software production. To measure successfully need standards, tools for measuring and a little theory of measurement. For example, standard measures of duration and of cost, internationally agreed.
