[IGSTK-Developers] Open Source Quality Improving, But Development Assumptions Need Revising

[Patrick Cheng]

Some interesting reading:

"Open Source Software Continually Improving According to Research from 
Coverity Joint Venture with U.S. Department of Homeland Security"
http://www.coverity.com/html/press_story58_05_20_08.html

Link to the Open Source Report 2008:
http://scan.coverity.com/report/Scan-Report2008-Release.pdf

One interesting finding regarding average project function length and 
static analysis defect density:
"...Likewise, it used to be considered wise to break down a single, 
complex function in a program into smaller functions, letting each solve 
a piece of the problem. After inspecting functions that ranged from just 
14 lines to those up to 345 lines in length, Maxwell says, "long 
functions don't have more defects." He suspects that breaking down a 
coherent, long function tends to complicate matters and "increase the 
amount of indirection" contained in a program, making it harder to keep 
defect free. So longer functions may become more acceptable, he 
said...." -- cited from 
http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/open_source/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207801458