A Metrics-Based Maintainability Estimation Framework for Object Oriented Software in Design Phase

Abstract Measurement of maintainability early in the software development life cycle, especially during the design phase, may aid designers in incorporating necessary improvements and adjustments to enhance the maintainability of the completed product. In order to demonstrate the importance and necessity of software maintainability during the design phase, this paper expands the (MEMOOD) metrics model, which estimates the maintainability of class diagrams in terms of their understandability and modifiability, to create a multivariate linear model called "Maintainability Estimation Framework and Metrics for Object Oriented Software (MEFOOS)" during the design phase. Thus, class diagrams' maintainability is estimated in terms of theirunderstandability, modifiability, and analyzabilityin the developed model. This study attempts, as a first effort, to create a relationship between object-oriented design features and maintainability elements analyzability, understandability, and modifiability. In spite of this, the study also created three further multivariate models to measure the class diagram's analyzability, understandability, and modifiability. Finally, the presented models have been empirically validated through the use of relevant statistical tests and reasoning from the context