In early 1982, the Lisa software team aimed to measure engineer progress through lines of code. Bill Atkinson, the main implementer, disagreed with this metric, believing in writing efficient code over quantity. He optimized Quickdraw, making it six times faster and saving 2,000 lines of code. When asked to report his lines of code, he wrote -2000, prompting managers to stop requesting his submissions. Atkinson’s approach highlights the flaw in measuring productivity solely through lines of code, emphasizing the importance of quality over quantity in software design.
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