Converstions with a Mental Midget

One of the ways of measuring the size of systems is by the use of Function Point Analysis (FPA), it is particularly useful because it can be used relatively early in the development process and is language independent. I have used FPA as a tool in measuring productivity. However, there are two versions of FPA, FPA I and FPA II. I was explaining to a 'Methodologist' about some of the productivity we had achieved in a major project which was an order of magnitude better than what was normally achieved. All this particular 'propeller head' could comment was that I had used FPA version I and this had now been superseded. Frankly I did not care if I was measuring the system size in Widgets Per Square Inch (WPSI), it was the relative performance of the team that was really important. He had totally lost the point of the exercise! No measure of system size or productivity can be very accurate there are just too many variables, what FPA gave me was a 'rule of thumb' measurement.