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LINES OF CODE IN C SOFTWARE

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drewmccormack

15 Dec, 2010 10:20 AM

Comment here on the blog post 'LINES OF CODE IN C SOFTWARE'.

1. 1 Posted by Andy Warwick on 16 Dec, 2010 08:25 AM

   

   Drew.

   It's possible they are using an automated process to count lines, and that total includes those created ‘behind the scenes’. It could include lines of XML in .xib files, etc. Or maybe they aren't using IB, and a lot of code is handling GUI stuff.

   Without looking at the source it’s hard to say what quality of code is like, or how ‘DRY’ it is.

   But whichever way you do it, lines of code is not a very good metric, other than at the most basic ‘this is a big, complicated App’ level, which is probably all they were trying to point out.

   I guess for a non-technical audience, it’s the same sort of measure as chip speed used to be on computer chips, and cubic centimetres are for engine sizes.

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2. Support Staff 2 Posted by drewmccormack on 16 Dec, 2010 09:08 AM

   

   I don't think the total includes XML or generated code. It was measured with cloc, which counts lines of C code. It also doesn't include third party frameworks or unit tests, which makes the number seem even higher.

   I agree LOC is not a great measure, but it still surprises me. I've used Cornerstone a lot. It's a powerful and well designed app. But I can't really see how you could get 180k LOCs.

   As a second (poor) metric, I took a look at the executable size of Keynote and Cornerstone. Keynote is 7.9MB, and Cornerstone is 6MB. In other words Cornerstone is only a little smaller, and yet my feeling is that Keynote does a lot more.

   Anyway, it doesn't really matter. Cornerstone is a great app from the user perspective, and the rest is the developer's problem.

   Drew

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3. 3 Posted by Andy Warwick on 16 Dec, 2010 10:10 AM

   

   Maybe a lot of the GUI work is being done in code, rather than XIB files? I know some developers prefer to create all their views that way rather than doing it in a GUI tool.

   But yes, I agree, Cornerstone is a really nice App, and if I hadn’t switched to GIT I’d probably be using it now.

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4. drewmccormack closed this discussion on 11 Jan, 2011 06:05 PM.

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6. drewmccormack closed this discussion on 28 Jan, 2011 09:43 AM.

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