Xref: utzoo comp.software-eng:2440 comp.misc:7417 Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!snorkelwacker!usc!rutgers!att!watmath!watmsg!sccowan From: sccowan@watmsg.waterloo.edu (S. Crispin Cowan) Newsgroups: comp.software-eng,comp.misc Subject: Re: Programmer productivity Keywords: Programmer Productivity Metrics Message-ID: <31670@watmath.waterloo.edu> Date: 19 Nov 89 17:55:16 GMT References: Sender: daemon@watmath.waterloo.edu Reply-To: sccowan@watmsg.waterloo.edu (S. Crispin Cowan) Distribution: na Organization: U. of Waterloo, Ontario Lines: 27 In article emuleomo@paul.rutgers.edu (Emuleomo) writes: >I heard that the average programmer produces 3-4 lines of *finished* >code a day! >This sounds ridiculously low. Does anybody out there know what the real >figure is? The key words here are _average_ and _finished_. Yes, a good programmer can barf out 1000 lines of code in a day, if it's simple, but it isn't always simple. The claim is that for _average_ problems and _average_ programmers, it will then take 250 days to fully debug and document that code. Also keep in mind that average includes a LOT of DP programmers/problems, which means that those 1000 lines of code have to interface to 1,000,000 lines of OTHER people's code, and get it right. >--Emuleomo O.O. (emuleomo@yes.rutgers.edu) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Login name: sccowan In real life: S. Crispin Cowan Office: DC3548 x3934 Home phone: 570-2517 Post Awful: 60 Overlea Drive, Kitchener, N2M 1T1 UUCP: watmath!watmsg!sccowan Domain: sccowan@watmsg.waterloo.edu "We have to keep pushing the pendulum so that it doesn't get stuck in the extremes--only the middle is worth having." Orwell, Videobanned -- Kim Kofmel