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The thread on programmer productivity has been an interesting one, and the objection to lines of code as a metric is a very valid one. The obvious flaw is that I'll simply generate many thousands of stupid lines of code merely to influence the metric. The counter to that is: my boss/peer group won't like my code and will object. Loudly. Anyway, trying for a positive note for once, what if we turn the question around a bit? If we're really asking "Am I a good programmer?" then the answer depends on my programs, doesn't it? After all, bad programmers aren't really productive, no matter how much code I, er... I mean they churn out. If we know a good programmer by her good programs, then how do we determine what's a good program? Code Complete has some words on the topic, but my copy is at home so I can't quote verbatim. Some thoughts: Number of variables per function (more=worse) Variable lifetime (longer=worse) Variable reference distance i.e. set X on line 1 and not refer to it until line 1000 (longer=worse) Number of parameters per function (more=worse) Scanning code to evaluate this is not trivial (Oh, for access to some compiler work areas!) but they ARE hard numbers and they CAN be compiled automatically and if the programmer writes code to influence the metrics, her code WILL be "better." At least, I think it will... What do you think? Buck Calabro Aptis; Albany, NY "Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know" -- Michel Montaigne Visit the Midrange archives at http://www.midrange.com +--- | This is the Midrange System Mailing List! | To submit a new message, send your mail to MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com. | To subscribe to this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-SUB@midrange.com. | To unsubscribe from this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-UNSUB@midrange.com. | Questions should be directed to the list owner/operator: david@midrange.com +---
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