Lines of Code Metric

Comments debate the flaws of using lines of code (LOC) as a measure of programming productivity, quality, or progress, often citing Bill Gates' quote likening it to measuring aircraft by weight.

➡️ Stable 0.6x Career & Jobs
5,029
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#6151
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
29
2008
82
2009
125
2010
129
2011
198
2012
186
2013
223
2014
228
2015
276
2016
274
2017
259
2018
229
2019
269
2020
363
2021
375
2022
526
2023
361
2024
332
2025
513
2026
54

Keywords

IT HN package.json LOC github.com LAPACK CoffeeScript wikipedia.org lines code lines code measuring loc progress code like metric aircraft measure

Sample Comments

bluedino Jan 5, 2015 View on HN

Lines of code isn't a good measuring stick.

Animux Sep 12, 2025 View on HN

Lines of code is a pretty bad metric.

arrowsmith Mar 23, 2024 View on HN

Lines of code is a bad measure even if it's not a target.

itsthecourier May 18, 2016 View on HN

The 14.9k LOC guy is correcto. Let's burn in a stick the heretic 0.1k LOC coder

bluefirebrand Jul 24, 2025 View on HN

Measured by lines of code written, no doubt...

nine_k Aug 12, 2022 View on HN

"Lines of code are not produced but spent" (can't remember the author)

purplecats Nov 29, 2020 View on HN

why does (current) number of lines of code matter

ryanpetrich Jun 1, 2011 View on HN

Lines of code is a poor way to measure contribution.

azornathogron Jan 24, 2026 View on HN

Absolutely.I think some of these people need to be reminded of the Bill Gates' quote about lines of code:“Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight.”

evgen Jul 24, 2009 View on HN

Lines of code is not an absolute metric for quality but it is a good rule of thumb (unless raw speed us the characteristic you are optimizing for.) Less code means the program or routine will be easier to read and understand and have fewer places for bugs to hide. Of course, this means lines of code in the syntax and standard libraries of the language: a program that calls a third-party library should be viewed as one that counts the lines in this library as well.