3 ms·

Program A has 20 lines of code. Program B has 20.000.000 lines of code. Is this absolutely meaningless information?

• jon_dahl 18y ago
  Not meaningless. But potentially unhelpful or even misleading.
• qwph 18y ago
  Bearing in mind that you haven't said anything else at all about either program, I'd have to say yes, absolutely meaningless.
  • tyn 18y ago
    Ok, let's say someone proposes you to maintain either A or B, giving you 10.000$ per year. You have the right to choose one of the two. He tells you that the only info he can give you is the lines of code of each program.(think of it as a thought experiment.) If you say, I don't care to know - it's meaningless. you lose the chance to make 10.000$ per year by maintaining a toy application of 20 lines. Even worse if you say, I just need the 10.000$ and choose B randomly. I mean, at least one info you get is that A is a toy application and B is a big program. Might be big because it's full of useless sh*t, but still it's big and this IS some information.
    • zepolen 18y ago
      Thought experiment eh? Consider A == B without line breaks.
      • tyn 18y ago
        That was a good one. But somehow it supports my argument, showing that any additional information (like how many of the lines are blank) brings some new value.