A Comparison of Measures of Control Flow Complexity

In attempting to describe the quality of computer software, one of the more frequently mentioned measurable attributes is complexity of the flow of control. During the past several years, there have been many attempts to quantify this aspect of computer programs, approaching the problem from such diverse points of view as graph theory and software science. Most notable measures in these areas are McCabe's cyclomatic complexity and Halstead's software effort. More recently, Woodward et al. proposed a complexity measure based on the number of crossings, or "knots," of arcs in a linearization of the flowgraph.

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