The Lowly Line of Code (Part One)
“I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that” – HAL 9000[1]
Source lines of code (SLOC) is a measure of software size, in use since the 1960s. This blog post describes various uses of SLOC from the perspective of software measurement.
There seems to be a love/hate relationship with the line of code measure. Despite its broad and continuous use (or perhaps because of it) SLOC seems to get the blame for many a failed software project, process improvement or software metrics initiative. There are even those who claim that “…in many situations usage of LOC metrics can be viewed as professional malpractice…”[2] But, as you will see, SLOC has many benefits, when used intelligently.