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Question:
Published on: 12 October, 2024

Short Notes :Lines of Code (LOC)

Answer:

LOC is possibly the simplest among all metrics available to measure project size. Consequently, this metric is extremely popular. This metric measures the size of a project by counting the number of source instructions in the developed program.Determining the LOC count at the end of a project is very simple. However, accurate estimation of LOC count at the beginning of a project is a very difficult task. One can possibly estimate the LOC count at the starting of a project, only by using some form of systematic guess work. We discuss the important shortcomings of the LOC metric in the following subsections:

LOC is a measure of coding activity alone. A good problem size measure should consider the total effort needed to carry out various life cycle activities (i.e. specification, design, code, test, etc.) and not just the coding effort. LOC, however, focuses on the coding activity alone—it merely computes the number of source lines in the final program.

LOC count depends on the choice of specific instructions: LOC gives a numerical value of problem size that can vary widely with coding styles of individual programmers. By coding style, we mean the choice of code layout, the choice of the instructions in writing the program, and the specific algorithms used.

LOC measure correlates poorly with the quality and efficiency of the code: Larger code size does not necessarily imply better quality of code or higher efficiency. Some programmers produce lengthy and complicated code as they do not make effective use of the available instruction set or use improper algorithms.

LOC metric penalises use of higher-level programming languages and code reuse: A paradox is that if a programmer consciously uses several library routines, then the LOC count will be lower. This would sh ow up as smaller program size, and in turn, would indicate lower effort! Thus, if managers use the LOC count to measure the effort put in by different developers (that is, their productivity), they would be discouraging code reuse by developers.

LOC metric measures the lexical complexity of a program and does not address the more important issues of logical and structural complexities: Between two programs with equal LOC counts, a program incorporating complex logic would require much more effort to develop than a program with very simple logic.

It is very difficult to accurately estimate LOC of the final program from problem specification: As already discussed, at the project initiation time, it is a very difficult task to accurately estimate the number of lines of code (LOC) that the program would have after development.

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