Running through these papers, the Prechelt (Tcl/Python/Perl/Rexx) paper probably comes closest to producing the kind of analysis desired, but at the end of the

Running through these papers, the Prechelt (Tcl/Python/Perl/Rexx) paper probably comes closest to producing the kind of analysis desired, but at the end of the day they're all begging for more controls. In particular to some of the Prechelt paper's most interesting results (LOC, comments, time spent) are marred by the collection methods ("script" languages were not sampled under controlled settings).