What methods are used to assess the degree of component connectivity in a system?

The following methods are usually used to assess the degree of component cohesion in a system:

• Cohesion metrics analysis: measure how closely elements within a component are related. The higher the cohesion, the better.

• Cohesion classification: identify types of cohesion — functional, sequential, communicative, temporal, logical, etc. This helps understand the quality of the architecture.

• Use of diagrams and graphs: visualizing connections between modules helps identify weak points and unnecessary dependencies.

• Static code analysis: tools analyze dependencies between classes, methods, and modules, revealing levels of cohesion.

• Cyclomatic complexity metrics: indirectly influence understanding cohesion by showing the complexity of logic within components.

Example: if in a PHP module functions use common data and are closely related logically, the cohesion is high. If functions are independent and perform different tasks, the cohesion is low, which is bad for maintenance.