Model size matters

Size is an important attribute of software artefacts; for most artefact types exists a body of measurement knowledge. As software engineering is becoming more and more model-centric, it is surprising that there exists only little work on model size metrics (MoSMe). In this position paper we identify the goals justifying the need for MoSMe, such as prediction, description and progress measurement. Additionally, we identify challenges that make it difficult to measure the size of UML models and that MoSMe have to deal with. Finally, we propose a classification of MoSMe and concrete examples of metrics for the size of UML models.