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From: joannz@halley.UUCP (Joann Zimmerman)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: C source lines in file
Summary: other things to use this metric for
Keywords: C
Message-ID: <569@halley.UUCP>
Date: 21 Aug 89 19:33:04 GMT
References: <35120@ccicpg.UUCP> <10707@smoke.BRL.MIL> <257@opel.UUCP> <10511@fluke.COM>
Organization: Tandem Computers, Austin, TX
Lines: 21

There are indeed other things to count non-commented source lines for than
just attempts to measure productivity or estimate time-to-completion. In a
former life, a company for which I worked was involved in an effort to
characterize the efficiency of the software QA process, and to estimate
required testing time. By the time I left, a value for the number of 
non-commented lines changed was beginning to look as though it would prove
very useful. This required somewhat more sophisticated difference measures
than could be supplied by just running diff, so I invented a multi-language
(C, C++, Pascal and Apollo Aegis Shell/Mentor Graphics Userware) line-count
program allowing counts of both commented and non-commented lines, and
inclusion (once only) or exclusion of include files. You could operate it
over a single program or over a given DSEE library.

Yes, we were going for some complexity measurements as well, but lines made
a very good start.  

-- 
"A woman seldom writes her mind but in her postscript" - Richard Steele

Joann Zimmerman            Tandem Computers        Austin, TX 
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