Paths

API ID: CountPath
Also Known As: NPATH
Languages: Ada, Basic, C#, C++, Fortran, Java, Jovial, Pascal, Python, Rust, Web
Targets: Files, Functions, Modules, Packages, Subprograms

Number of unique paths through a body of code, not counting abnormal exits or gotos.

For example:

void pathDemo() {
  if (a)
    dothis();
  if (b)
    dothat();
}

The two if statements are independent, and each has 2 outcomes (taken or not), so there are 2 × 2 = 4 possible paths through the function: (a, b), (a, not b), (not a, b), and (not a, not b). That gives pathDemo a Paths count of 4.

Path counts are capped at 999,999,999 — functions with more paths than that all report the same maximum value. See Paths Log(x) for a version of this value that isn't capped the same way, and scales better for functions with many paths.

Also known as NPATH.

Introduced by Nejmeh, Brian A. "NPATH: A Measure of Execution Path Complexity and Its Applications." Communications of the ACM, vol. 31, no. 2, 1988, pp. 188-200.

Targets By Language:

• Ada: Type, Entry, Function, Package, Procedure, Protected, Task
• Basic: Method
• C#: Method
• C++: Function
• Fortran: Module, Block Data, Function, Program, Subroutine
• Java: Method
• Jovial: Subroutine
• Pascal: Compunit, Function, Procedure
• Python: File, Function
• Rust: File, Function
• Web: File

Configuration:

• This metric can be enabled from "Project Configuration/Metrics/Complexity" with the "Paths" option.