I was rummaging through the rather interesting blog and website of the excellent
http://www.analogx.com/ 
looking for updates to the audio/music files that can be found there, when I became diverted by the headline for the
K-LOC Calculator application - which I did not recall having seen before:
K-LOC Calculator, version 1.01
Over the years, the software development community at large has gotten a whole host of valuable information about project management from good old Big Blue (IBM)... I should clarify that - valuable information on how NOT to manage a project. For fun, I decided to resurrect one of their worst ideas ever, K-LOC (or more appropriately, paying programmers based on K-LOC).
The AnalogX K-LOC Calculator is the exact opposite of PCalc, my programmer's calculator - this has almost no real world application, but it is fun for the number crunchers out there who want some sort of metric about the project. Sure, the metric is completely arbitrary, but hey, you can feed it into a spreadsheet! heheh... Actually, I would say that K-LOC does have its uses (a simple way to measure project complexity, perhaps), but there aren't too many.
AnalogX K-LOC Calculator can scan any number of files, any wildcard extension, and even recursively check subdirectories. It returns not only the total project K-LOC rating, but the average file K-LOC rating and total file size of the project as well!
K-LOC Calculator works on all versions of Windows, from Window 95 to Windows 7 and everything inbetween (including XP, Vista, Win2k, etc). If you have a general question related to any of the programs on the site, or would like some additional info related to the downloads in general, then check out the downloads FAQ.
Copied from: K-LOC[/b] Calculator, version 1.01 - <http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/Programming/kloc/Freeware.htm>
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So what the heck is a
KLOC?
Etymology:
K (thousand) + LOC (lines of code)
KLOC (plural KLOCs)
1. Noun: (computing, programming) thousand lines of code
- In IBM there's a religion in software that says you have to count KLOCs, and a KLOC is a thousand line of code. – Steve Ballmer in Triumph of the Nerds II: Riding the Bear (Robert X. Cringely, Paul Sen, 1996), about 38 minutes in, relating events around 1989.
- It concludes that defects are found 2 to 4 times faster with inspection than with testing, that defects are typically found at the rate of one defect per man hour invested in inspection, and that inspection finds about 37 defects per kloc if it is done properly.
– Terry Shepard in Proceedings of the National Workshop on Software Engineering Education (IBM Canada, 1993)
- The formula is based on thousands of lines of source code (kLOC) and incorporates Fagan's recommendations for inspection pace, meeting duration, and frequency:
- elapsed time (in days) = 3 × n kLOC
Here n is an estimate of how many thousands of lines of code will be inspected.
– Glen W. Russell, Experience with Inspection in Ultralarge-Scale Developments (Bell-Northern Research, 1991)
Copied from: KLOC - Wiktionary - <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/KLOC>
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Ah. OK, so it's a
Thneed* variant.
This is eerily redolent of a
Thneed* called
FPA (Function Point Analysis), another utterly useless (from experience) piece of computing's store of religio-political ideologies and which was often found cohabiting with yet another
Thneed* called
IEM (Information Engineering Methodology)
[
my emphasis]
Function Point Analysis has been proven [Yeah, right] as a reliable method for measuring the size of computer software. In addition to measuring output, Function Point Analysis is extremely useful in estimating projects, managing change of scope, measuring productivity, and communicating functional requirements.[Amazing, eh? It also cures cognitive blindness.]
There have been many misconceptions [Translation: by people who who are misunderstanders of, or are not true believers] regarding the appropriateness of Function Point Analysis in evaluating emerging environments such as real time embedded code and Object Oriented programming. Since function points express the resulting work-product in terms of functionality as seen from the user's perspective, the tools and technologies used to deliver it are independent. [Translation: it can also be used to mean whatever you might want it to mean.]
Copied from: Function Point Analysis - <http://www.qpmg.com/fp-intro.htm>
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Note: * Thneed:"I'm being quite useful. This thing is a Thneed.
A Thneed's a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need!
It's a shirt. It's a sock. It's a glove. It's a hat.
But it has OTHER uses. Yes, far beyond that.
You can use it for carpets. For pillows! For sheets!
Or curtains! Or covers for bicycle seats!"
-Words and illustration from The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.
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