Software doesn’t end at the 20k loc proof of concept though.

What every developer learns during their “psh i could build that” weekendware attempt is that there is infinite polish to be had, and that their 20k loc PoC was <1% of the work.

That said, doesn't TFA show you what they use their loc for?

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sarchertech 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I think that’s why the author was comparing to to a finished 3D game.

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hombre_fatal 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I guess because you see 3D stuff in a 3D game instead of text, people assume that it must be the most complex thing in software? Or because you solve hard math problems in 3D, those functions are gonna be the most loc?

It's a completely different domain, e.g. very different integration surface area and abstractions.

Claude Code's source is dumped online so there's probably a more concrete analysis to be had than "that sounds like too many loc".

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sarchertech 2 hours ago | parent [-]

It is a different domain but that wasn’t your argument. Your argument was that someone was comparing it to a POC when in fact they were comparing to a finished product.

Also a AAA game (with the engine) with physics, networking, and rendering code is up there in terms of the most complex pieces of software.

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hombre_fatal 2 hours ago | parent [-]

They just claimed that you can build a 3D game in 500k loc, thus Claude Code shouldn't use so many loc. They/you didn't render the argument for that.

For example, without looking at the code, the superstition also works in the opposite direction: Claude Code is an interface to using AI to do any computer task while a 3D game just lets you shoot some bad guys, so surely the 3D game must be done in fewer loc. That's equally unsatisfying.

You'd have to be more concrete than "sounds like a lot".

	▲	lelanthran an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> Claude Code is an interface to using AI to do any computer task Shouldn't interfaces be smaller than the implementation?
	▲	troupo an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> Claude Code is an interface to using AI to do any computer task Claude Code is quite literally a wrapper around a few APIs. At one point it needed 68GB of RAM to run and requires 11ms to "lay a scene graph" to display a few hundred characters on screen. All links here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47598488 > while a 3D game just lets you shoot some bad guys, so surely the 3D game must be done in fewer loc. Yes, most games should be done in fewer loc

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mpalmer 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Check out `print.ts` to see how "more LOC" doesn't mean "more polished"

	▲	hombre_fatal 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Okay, I'm looking at it. Now what? This file is exactly what I'm talking about. Take the loadInitialMessage function: It's encumbered with real world incremental requirements. You can see exactly the bolted-on conditionals where they added features like --teleport, --fork-session, etc. The runHeadlessStreaming function is a more extreme version of that where a bunch of incremental, lateral subsystems are wired together, not an example of superfluous loc.