Cyclomatic Complexity in C#: How to Spot and Refactor Risky Methods

Cyclomatic Complexity counts the independent execution paths through a C# method—one plus each branching construct. Thomas McCabe recommended a limit of 10, while Microsoft's CA1502 analyzer flags anything over 25. This guide shows how to calculate it, why a score of 8 means at least eight tests, and how tools like NDepend and Visual Studio can track complexity, coverage, and the CRAP score to keep legacy code from becoming a bug magnet.