Textbooks tell us how to define metrics, but there is little guidance about exactly how to start and what has proven most effective in actual use. This book helps bridge that gap by bringing together important and practical papers on applying software metrics. Each chapter addresses a significant question whose answer is essential to building an effective measurement program. To answer each question, papers and book chapters provide information based on actual experience with successful measurement rograms. Included with each chapter is a case study to focus on technology transfer: how to make measurement become a natural part of everyday software development. Included in every chapter is a set of recommended references.