In the previous post, we have examined the first results of the analysis of the source code of Word 1.1a (1990).

We counted 349 files, which is not huge, but with a rather high size: on average more than 470 LOC (Lines Of Code), and many of them well beyond 1 000 LOC. The complexity metrics are also high, and the rate of comments quite low, but it was probably normal at that time, more than 40 years ago.

The very low level of duplication maked me think that all the components needed to implement a feature can be found in the same file, which explains the size and complexity of many of them. It seems that the motto was : priority to efficiency, then readability and understandibility are less critical. Continue reading →

Microsoft has released this week the source code of Word 1.1a (1990) to the Computer History Museum: http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/microsoft-word-for-windows-1-1a-source-code/.

This is an early version of Word for Windows, January 1991:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2014/03/25/microsoft-makes-source-code-for-ms-dos-and-word-for-windows-available-to-public.aspx.

I was interested in analyzing the source code of this release. I was curious to see what would be the results from both a quantitative point of view – number of lines of code, complexity , etc. – and a qualitative one: violations of best programming practices, Blockers, Critical defects, etc. Continue reading →