When, if ever, is “number of lines of code” a useful metric?

Question

Some people claim that code\'s worst enemy is its size, and I tend to agree. Yet every day you keep hearing things like

• I write blah lines of code in a day.

Answer 1

It is a very usefull idea when it is associated with the number of defects. "Defects" gives you a measure of code quality. The least "defects" the better the software; It is nearly impossible to remove all defects. In many occasions, a single defect could be harmfull and fatal.

However, it does not seem that nondefective software exists.