ABSTRACT
One of the most popular metrics used by the software industry is Source Lines of Code (SLOC). For better or for worse, SLOC is used pervasively as a proxy for estimating cost, developer productivity, maintainability and many other management concerns. Clearly, at close inspection, SLOC is a poor estimate for some of those management concerns, especially programmer productivity, for which, unfortunately, SLOC is still used as a proxy. On the popular culture front, brevity is seen as a sign of programming prowess, and the art of creating the shortest possible programs in various programming languages even has a name: Code Golf. However, trying to shorten programs for the sake of brevity alone is usually not a good idea.
