When, if ever, is "number of lines of code" a useful metric?
Some people claim that code's worst enemy is its size, and I tend to agree. Yet every day you keep hearing things like
- I write blah lines of code in a day.
- I own x lines of code.
- Windows is x million lines of code.
Question: When is "#lines of code" useful?
ps: Note that when such statements are made, the tone is "more is better".
Answer
I'd say it's when you're removing code to make the project run better.
Saying you removed "X number of lines" is impressive. And far more helpful than you added lines of code.