The manner and degree of interdependence between software modules.

ANSI/IEEE 610.12-1990 IEEE Standard Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology.

Module Coupling is one of the fundamental properties of software architecture.  It describes the relationship between two modules.

This tutorial on module coupling is divided in to three sections.  The first section, Background, provides a brief description of the origin and an explanation of the impact of coupling.  The next section, Categories defines each of the seven types of coupling and provides advantages and consequences for each.  In Classification there is a discussion of how to determine the level of coupling between two modules through the use of a structure chart.  After an exercise on evaluating the coupling between two components, there is a discussion and exercise on evaluation the coupling of an entire program.  Select one of the buttons on the right to continue.