[RangerScience]

I think you missed what this article was on about. They're comparing against "impact", not LOC. From what I understood, "impact" is actually LESS from high LOC; it's highest for a few lines in many files.

But, the overall conclusion - small bites, many times - definitely fits both my experience and my intuition.

You either have to a) create a library/module or b) use a library/module. "A" is rare, and it's easier to see the impact of it - "you're the person that made that thing". "B" is the most common, and it usually involves many small bites. It's also harder to notice who's accomplishing what this way, since you have to point at the whole team to say "you made that thing".

Impact sounds like a decent way to see who's meaningfully contributing to a group project, although it definitely (sounds like) it has major blind spots. They could do with more detail as to how "churn" relates.