Modularization in the pilot compiler and its effect on the length

Abstract

The length equation for programs, initially suggested by M.H. Halstead, has been studied and experimentally verified by several independent investigators. The sets of programs tested have ranged over a variety of programming languages and program sizes. While such studies have tested the equation for programs taken as a whole, there have been no studies on the length equation when applied to individual modules within a program. This paper provides such a study for a compiler composed of fourteen modules. The length equation is shown to hold for program parts (modules) as well as for program wholes (the total program).