Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!mailrus!umix!metavax!chris
From: chris@metavax.UUCP (Chris Collins )
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: American Programmer
Message-ID: <3115@metavax.UUCP>
Date: 30 Mar 88 20:14:06 GMT
References: <312@uwslh.UUCP> <1232@cos.com> <87@studsys.mu.edu>
Reply-To: chris@metavax.UUCP (Chris Collins )
Organization: Meta Systems, Ltd. -- Ann Arbor, MI
Lines: 35

In article <87@studsys.mu.edu> jetzer@studsys.mu.edu (jetzer) writes:
>                       My (heavily commented) source code was about 2400
>lines long; this may or may not seem long to professional programmers, but
>it's a far cry from the < 200 line programs that are typically assigned in
>the intro to pascal course.
   
>Mike Jetzer
>uwvax!uwmcsd1!marque!studsys!jetzer

This class sounds like a good start, but it must a) increase the complexity
of the software to approximately 10,000 lines, and b) should be increased to
more than 1 credit hour accordingly.
 
It is my experience that a programmer only begins to appreciate comments, 
design, modularity, etc. when the software he is working on exceeds the
amount of lines of code he could mentally assimilate.  For me, and for 
others I have discussed such things with, this is about 10,000 lines.  The
language doesn't matter too much for this limit.

The increase in credit for such a course is for 2 reasons.  First, to cover
the increased work in handling 10,000 line programs.  Secondly, at the U
of Michigan, where I attended, one credit courses were not looked upon
by students as ""real"" classes.  This may not be true at other institutions
of learning.

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