PHP_Depend-0.8.0beta1 released

This new release of PHP_Depend took some time to be finished. This is because the initial idea of a simple adaption of JDepend evolved (supported thru this blog-post by Sebastian), and so PHP_Depend has become a complete software metric application. Many new features and enhancements have found their way into this version. One of the key features is the pluggable architecture for custom Loggers and Metric-Analyzers. This opens the possibility to hook own Logger- and Analyzer-implementations into the execution chain of PHP_Depend. Beside these architectural changes this PHP_Depend version is shipped with a large set of implemented software metrics.

ClassLevel (Class)

• dit: Depth of Inheritance Tree
• impl: Number of implemented interfaces
• cis: Class Interface Size
• csz: Class SiZe
• vars: Number of defined class properties
• varsi: Number of own and inherited class properties
• varsnp: Number of public class properties
• wmc: Weighted Method per Class(Sum of method Cyclomatic Complexity)
• wmci: Weighted Method per Class + inherited WMC
• wmcnp: Weighted Method per Class for all public class methods

CodeRank (Class, Package)

An adaption of google's PageRank algorithm for classes and packages.

• cr: Forward CodeRank (based on incoming edges)
• rcr: Reverse CodeRank (based on outgoing edges)

Coupling (Project)

• calls: Number of called methods and functions
• fanout: Number of referenced types

Cyclomatic Complexity (Project, Method, Function)

• ccn: Cyclomatic Complexity
• ccn2: Extended Cyclomatic Complexity

Dependency (Package)

For details see the following entry.

• ca: Afferent coupling
• ce: Efferent coupling
• a: Abstraction
• i: Instability
• d: Distance

Hierarchy (Project)

• clsa: Number of abstract classes.
• clsc: Number of concrete classes.
• roots: Number of root classes within the analyzed system.
• leafs: Number of leaf classes.
• maxDIT: Max Depth of Inheritance Tree value

Inheritance (Project)

• andc: Average Number of Derived Classes.
• ahh: Average Hierarchy Height

NodeCount (Project, Package, Class, Interface)

• nop: Number Of Packages
• noc: Number Of Classes
• noi: Number Of Interfaces
• nom: Number Of Methods
• nof: Number Of Functions

NodeLOC (Project, Package, Class, Interface, Method, Function)

• loc: Lines Of Code
• cloc: Comment Lines Of Code
• ncloc: Non Comment Lines Of Code

Due to the fact that PHP is a loosely typed programming language, PHP_Depend can only approximate some values. But the measured results can be improved with a good and complete source code documentation, because PHP_Depend takes advantage of different doc comment annotations (@throws, @var, @return). So I suggest the use of a tool like PHP_CodeSniffer, to achieve better results.

Beside all these metrics, PHP_Depend also provides a new chart type, the "Overview Pyramid". The Overview Pyramid can be a handy tool to analyze legacy code. If you have read the book Object-Oriented Metrics in Practice you should know howto interpret the Overview Pyramid, all others have to wait for a detailed description.

PHP_Depend Overview Pyramid for PHP_Depend

This new version can be installed with the PEAR-Installer. Just discover the pear.xplib.de channel and install the latest PHP_Depend release. After PHP_Depend has been installed successfully, the new command line tool pdepend should exist.

 mapi@arwen ~ $ pear channel-discover pear.xplib.de
 mapi@arwen ~ $ pear install xplib/PHP_Depend-beta
 mapi@arwen ~ $ pdepend --help
 PHP_Depend 0.8.0beta1 by Manuel Pichler

 Usage: pdepend [options] [logger] <dir[,dir[,...]]>

   --jdepend-chart=<file>    Generates a diagram of the analyzed packages.
   --jdepend-xml=<file>      Generates the package dependency log.

   --overview-pyramid=<file> Generates a chart with an Overview Pyramid for the
                             analyzed project.

   --summary-xml=<file>      Generates a xml log with all metrics.

   --coderank-mode=<*[,...]> Used CodeRank strategies. Comma separated list of
                             'inheritance'(default), 'property' and 'method'.

   --suffix=<ext[,...]>      List of valid PHP file extensions.
   --ignore=<dir[,...]>      List of exclude directories.
   --exclude=<pkg[,...]>     List of exclude packages.

   --without-annotations     Do not parse doc comment annotations.

   --help                    Print this help text.
   --version                 Print the current PHP_Depend version.

There is also a Subversion repository at http://svn.pdepend.org/, where the latest development version can be found.

Please test this beta release and file bug-reports and feature-requests in the PHP_Depend bug tracker.