SIMPLE EXPERIMENT IN TOP-DOWN DESIGN

In this paper we: 1) discuss the need for quantitatively reproducible experiments in the study of top-down design; 2) propose the design and writing of tutorial papers as a suitably general and inexpensive vehicle; 3) suggest the software science parameters as appropriate metrics; 4) report two experiments validating the use of these metrics on outlines and prose; and 5) demonstrate that the experiments tended toward the same optimal modularity. The last point appears to offer a quantitative approach to the estimation of the total length or volume (and the mental effort required to produce it) from an early stage of the top-down design process. If results of these experiments are validated elsewhere, then they will provide basic guidelines for the design process. Copyright © 1979 by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.