Modularization in the pilot compiler and its effect on the length
Jose C. Ingojo · 1976
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).