Author includes comments (irrelevant to code to some extent) and braces (enforced by compiler) and particulars of code style into LOC and calls it unreliable.

Author includes comments (irrelevant to code to some extent) and braces (enforced by compiler) and particulars of code style into LOC and calls it unreliable. I think it is not quite honest. The rules themselves vary between languages and, frankly, contemporary C++ is a different language than C++ circa 1997. Often, use of C++ is different between parts of projects and it is the case for contemporary Java too. Should we develop different ABC rules for different flavors of C++ and/or Java?