Measuring Influencing Factors of API Usability

In this paper, we identify the influencing factors of API usability by extending a comprehensive framework for measuring API usability we proposed earlier, through a systematic examination of entities involved and artifacts produced in API development and usage. Existing research in software metrics are adapted to define metrics capturing relevant metrics dimensions and at the appropriate levels. Our current set of identified influencing factors includes metrics defined on API documentation and other entities/artifacts, in addition to the code metrics. Some preliminary results from actual measurement of such influencing factors are included to demonstrate the viability of our approach.