Codermetrics

Name

Range

Synopsis

Purpose

Measure how many areas of software a coder works on.

Formula

Range = Number of Areas Worked by a coder

Example

Coder A completes the following assigned tasks in two development iterations:

Iteration 1: Task 1 working on Product Area A

Iteration 1: Task 2 working on Product Areas A, B

Iteration 1: Task 3 working on Product Area C

Iteration 2: Task 4 working on Product Area B

Iteration 2: Task 5 working on Product Areas B, D

Iteration 2: Task 6 working on Product Area B

Iteration 2: Task 7 working on Product Area D

By counting the Areas Worked, you can calculate Range per iteration in the following way:

Range Iteration 1 = Count (Area A, Area B, Area C) = 3

Range Iteration 2 = Count (Area B, Area D) = 2

The overall Average Range for a coder is calculated the same as other metric averages, namely by taking the average of the per iteration values:

Average Range = (3 + 2) / 2 = 2.5

The Total Range, however, is not calculated merely by adding the per iteration values. In this case, the accurate result comes by taking a final count of the total number of Areas Worked:

Total Range = Count (Area A, Area B, Area C, Area D) = 4

Notes

Most coders work for extended periods on specific areas of a software product. Some coders are required to have greater versatility and work in more areas. The Range metric provides insight regarding a coder’s versatility and breadth, and lets you analyze how a wide or narrow band of work areas might correlate to results.

When looking at a coder’s range over ...