Well in that case I really don't understand your reasoning. I can't think of any other reason why you cannot see that lines of code is the closest and most meas

Well in that case I really don't understand your reasoning. I can't think of any other reason why you cannot see that lines of code is the closest and most measurable representation of the information content of the system's logic. Information content/entropy is the most rigorous way to measure complexity. IMO, lines of code is even better at measuring complexity than compiled bytecode because it accounts for complexity from the developer's point of view (which is what the question is asking). While some lines of code require more effort from a typical developer to understand than other lines, it doesn't matter so much once they're averaged out over thousands of lines and thousands of different developers (each with their own slightly different perception of complexity). It's reasonable to factor out individual perception of complexity.