Sextant: A tool to specify and visualize software metrics for Java source-code

The success of software development efforts typically require guidance derived from a deep understanding of its design space.Well-crafted software metrics can impart invaluable insight into the nature of software and can provide the underpinnings for informed decisions involving design and implementation trade-offs. Leveraging metrics to their full capacity requires (1) the ability to quickly develop custom metrics that are domain-specific and even application specific, and (2) the ability to present metrics-related information in a comprehensible fashion. This paper describes a tool, called Sextant, whose purpose is to achieve the goals stated in the previous paragraph. An overview of Sextant is given followed by two in-depth real-world examples of how the use of metrics can positively impact software development efforts.