What does Cyclomatic Complexity measure in software engineering?

Solution

Cyclomatic Complexity is a software metric used to measure the complexity of a program's control flow. Developed by Thomas McCabe in 1976, it quantifies the number of linearly independent paths through a program’s source code. This metric is important for several reasons: • Complexity Measurement: Cyclomatic Complexity provides an indication of the complexity of a program based on its control flow graph. The metric is calculated by counting the number of linearly independent paths through the program’s code. This helps in understanding how complex a module or function is, based on its decision points and branching. • Testing: A higher Cyclomatic Complexity value suggests more paths through the code, which means more test cases are needed to achieve thorough testing. Each independent path represents a unique test scenario that should be covered to ensure comprehensive testing of the module. • Maintainability: Programs with high Cyclomatic Complexity are generally harder to understand, maintain, and modify. By keeping Cyclomatic Complexity low, developers can create code that is easier to read, debug, and modify.