metric

English translation: metric (a measure of something)

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:metric
Selected answer:metric (a measure of something)
Entered by: Ken Cox

12:09 Dec 16, 2004
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Computers: Software / Grammar
English term or phrase: metric
I am looking for the rules on the use of metric (singular) as a noun, as in "software metric". Can this be generalized to singular mathematical concepts (as in equations)? My specific context is ISO.
Parrot
Spain
Local time: 15:15
comment
Explanation:
I'm not sure what you mean by 'generalised to singular mathematical concepts'. In the context of QA, a metric is anything that can be used to characterise something (an object, activity, process, etc.), usually quantitatively (e.g. for software: number of lines of code produced per manday, number of errors per 1000 lines of code, number of executable instructions per line of source code, etc.).


In the mathematical sense, a metric is 'a binary function of a topological space which gives, for any two points of the space, a value equal to the distance between them, or to a value treated as analogous to distance for the purpose of analysis' (quote from the Oxford Dictionary of English). In this sense, it is already a mathematical concept.

See e.g.:
www.benchmarkqa.com/PDFs/software_metric.pdf
Selected response from:

Ken Cox
Local time: 15:15
Grading comment
Thank you, you've all been helpful.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
3 +2metric
Clauwolf
3 +1comment
Ken Cox
4not for grading
RHELLER
3 -1metrics
Peter Linton (X)


  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
metric


Explanation:
:) Heritage
met·ric2 (mµt“r¹k) n. 1. A standard of measurement.

Clauwolf
Local time: 11:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in PortuguesePortuguese
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  seaMount
50 mins
  -> thanks

agree  Richard Benham
1 hr
  -> thanks
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16 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
metrics


Explanation:
I suppose grammatically and even logically there should be a singular form of this noun, but it does sound a bit odd, because it is almost universally used in the plural, as an uncountable noun. Perhaps it is like "data" - a single item of data ought to be called a "datum", but hardly anybody does.

Peter Linton (X)
Local time: 14:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Richard Benham: Sorry, but the singular noun "metric" has wide currency, in everything from software engineering to general relativity, and a lot of areas in between.
1 hr
  -> Fair enough, fair point. I used to work in software engineering, and don't recall using 'metric' in the singular, but happy to accept that it is valid.
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28 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
comment


Explanation:
I'm not sure what you mean by 'generalised to singular mathematical concepts'. In the context of QA, a metric is anything that can be used to characterise something (an object, activity, process, etc.), usually quantitatively (e.g. for software: number of lines of code produced per manday, number of errors per 1000 lines of code, number of executable instructions per line of source code, etc.).


In the mathematical sense, a metric is 'a binary function of a topological space which gives, for any two points of the space, a value equal to the distance between them, or to a value treated as analogous to distance for the purpose of analysis' (quote from the Oxford Dictionary of English). In this sense, it is already a mathematical concept.

See e.g.:
www.benchmarkqa.com/PDFs/software_metric.pdf

Ken Cox
Local time: 15:15
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 28
Grading comment
Thank you, you've all been helpful.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Richard Benham: One often refers to "a metric" in both mathematical and computing contexts. Actually, the Oxford definition is a bit circular, but near enough for non-specialists.
52 mins
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
not for grading


Explanation:
Both are used; metrics is used more often if you accept google for verification of usage (which I do, but never for grammar).

My search "software metric" ISO = 510
"software metrics" ISO = 16,700

you will be correct in both cases

Software metric - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia... A software metric is a measure of some property of a piece of software or its ... Management methodologies such as the Capability Maturity Model or ISO 9000 have ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_metric


RHELLER
United States
Local time: 08:15
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16
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