I disagree: LOC is useful, but in an inverse way than many large organizations claim. Smaller is better.
As a long-time programmer, it was pretty clear to me what Charles was doing when others around him thought he was doing nothing: analysis, design.
And sometimes if you get a problem solved right, it doesn't need tuning, and if the solution is a small number of lines of code, your prototype might be just what you ship. Many large entrenched shops cannot imagine that this can possibly be true, so the bureaucracy resists or eliminates any such solutions.
To me what is troubling about this story is that it represents what happens in software organizations--both sides.
As a long-time programmer, it was pretty clear to me what Charles was doing when others around him thought he was doing nothing: analysis, design.
And sometimes if you get a problem solved right, it doesn't need tuning, and if the solution is a small number of lines of code, your prototype might be just what you ship. Many large entrenched shops cannot imagine that this can possibly be true, so the bureaucracy resists or eliminates any such solutions.
To me what is troubling about this story is that it represents what happens in software organizations--both sides.