Category:Function Points

Function Points is the term for a software "metric" (actually a measure when measure is a single observable aspect of something that can be measured) that represents a functional size of software. Similar to square feet (or square meters) of a floor plan, function points reflects the size of a piece of software as derived by assigning an ordinal number (discrete) to the functional user requirements supported by the software.

Function points (FP) and their derivation (called Function Point Analysis) were first introduced by Alan Albrecht of IBM at a Guide/Share conference in 1979, and first published in the public domain in 1984. Albrecht's methodology was formalized and standardized with the formation the same year of the not-for-profit International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG). Today IFPUG (www.ifpug.org) remains a volunteer, member funded user group that publishes, promotes, and continues to refine and standardize the IFPUG counting practices manual which has become the defacto standard for assessing a piece of software's functional size.

Currently there are five ISO/IEC functional size measurement method standards: - IFPUG (version 4.1 unadjusted) - FiSMA (version 1.1) owned by the Finnish Software Measurement Association (www.fisma.fi) - NESMA owned by the Netherlands Software Measurement Association (www.nesma.nl) - Mark II owned by the UK Software Measurement Association, UKSMA (www.uksma.org.uk) - COSMIC (version 1.2) owned by the COSMIC Consortium (www.cosmicon.com)

There is also an ISO/IEC suite of "Functional Size Measurement" framework standards published as ISO/IEC 14143 parts 1 to 6.