LOC family

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What mehen emits

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Worked example

/*
Instruction: Implement factorial function
For extra credits, do not use mutable state or imperative loops.
 */

/// Factorial: n! = n*(n-1)*(n-2)*...*3*2*1
fn factorial(num: u64) -> u64 {

    // use `product` on `Iterator`
    (1..=num).product()
}

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Why split the count

• SLOC is the simplest size signal — useful for repository-level dashboards.
• PLOC removes whitespace and comments and is closest to “real code”.
• LLOC counts statements, so it is the right axis for comparing language idioms (one Python comprehension vs. a multi-line Rust loop).
• CLOC and Blank are reported separately because comment and whitespace ratios are themselves signals of style and readability.

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References

• Park, R. E. (1992). Software Size Measurement: A Framework for Counting Source Statements. CMU/SEI-92-TR-20, Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon. SEI report — the standard reference for what does and does not count as a “line”.
• Nguyen, V., Deeds-Rubin, S., Tan, T. & Boehm, B. (2007). A SLOC Counting Standard. USC Center for Systems and Software Engineering Technical Report. USC PDF.
• Sonar: Lines of code in metric definitions.

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See also

• Concepts → Spaces — how the LOC family aggregates from spaces to files.
• Developers → How-to: implement LoC — internal implementation guide.