Capturing and examining code metrics can be useful if the resultant data is applied correctly. Attempting to measure productivity by studying code, for example, is a measurement which has largely failed [ref]. Code metrics, however, can be helpful in objectively spotting complexity. Since complexity has a high correlation to the occurrence of defects, doesn’t it make sense to measure and track source code complexity?

The third article in IBM developerWorks’ series “In Pursuit of Code Quality” explores Cyclomatic Complexity and how one can obtain this interesting metric and then what to do with the data. Check out “Monitoring cyclomatic complexity” and if you have any thoughts, questions, or concerns, explore developerWorks’ “Improve Your Java Code Quality” forum!