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From: mfb@mbunix.mitre.org (Michael F Brenner)
Subject: Re: Ada Program Management Questions
Date: 1996/03/17
Message-ID: <4ih5nf$69f@linus.mitre.org>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 142995231
references: <4id0t8$rm5@news7.erols.com>
organization: Research Computer Facility, MITRE Corporation, Bedford, MA
keywords: SLOC, function points, software maintenance
newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
summary: There are alternatives to SLOC
Date: 1996-03-17T00:00:00+00:00
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>

Although it is more popular in the literature to measure code volume
by SLOC, there is no meaningful correlation between SLOC and effort
at Software or Firmware MAintenance Time: it takes about the same amount
of effort to change 10,000 lines of code as it does to change 10 lines of
code, because most of the effort is in analyzing the impact of change;
alternatives to SLOC that Are correlated to maintenance effort are:
(1) the amount of time it took for That organization to maintain code
of That type the last few times and (2) the number of function points
being changed. Unfortunately, the only textbook that most people seem
to have on their desk is a famous expositor of SLOC's. Be careful to
avoid negligence when measuring software maintenance effort by SLOCs,
and make sure you can personally justify some kind of correlation in 
your particular case between SLOC and effort. This is an example of 
measuring what is easy to measure, rather than what is useful. For the
year 2000 problem, for example, a better estimate than SLOC for changing
the two-digit years to Julian dates or to four-digit years is $250,000
per chip that is opened up, rather than any SLOC count. Just because your
boss asks for SLOCs does not mean that you are telling the truth, if you
give her SLOCs.