
224 CHAPTER 8 Design Characteristics and Metrics
DEFINITION
Coupling
An attribute that addresses
the degree of interaction
and interdependence
between two software
units.
8.3.2 Coupling
In the previous section we focused on cohesion within a software unit.
Again, the term, software unit, may be a module or a class. Assuming that
we are successful in designing highly cohesive software units in a system, it
is most likely that these units would still need to interact through the
process of coupling. The more complicated the interaction is, the less likely
that we will achieve the “easy to” characteristics mentioned in the begin-
ning of Section 8.3. A good example ...