<![CDATA[People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?!]]>People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! « Tokens used »?!?!? That’s like, the first time « lines of code created » gets beaten for the « worst metric of software engineering » 🫠

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/a48a1215-f5a5-4884-80ee-2e064d92ef39/people-are-using-tokens-used-as-productivity-metricRSS for NodeThu, 16 Apr 2026 03:18:05 GMTMon, 13 Apr 2026 10:22:40 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:32:38 GMT]]>@lenotaire @romeu $9995 for knowing where to tap.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/renardboy/statuses/116397647990337952https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/renardboy/statuses/116397647990337952Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:32:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:31:20 GMT]]>@romeu I for one measure my car's quality by how much fuel it burns

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/renardboy/statuses/116397642928441269https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/renardboy/statuses/116397642928441269Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:31:20 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:21:05 GMT]]>@romeu Hmm. What about kLOC/token? 🤔

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/rubdos/statuses/116397602578539224https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/rubdos/statuses/116397602578539224Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:21:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:00:23 GMT]]>@romeu I do remember when at work they were using the "committed lines of code" metric. One week I managed to do a SINGLE line change. Fixing a bug which haunted us for months. As they finally acknowledged, the main issue was not the change but knowing exactly where it was needed. The metric had been since buried

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116233087846906319/statuses/116397521213551555https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116233087846906319/statuses/116397521213551555Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:00:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:47:44 GMT]]>@jeantranscene @romeu

It's like measuring car performance by gallons per mile instead of miles per gallon.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.scot/users/petealexharris/statuses/116397471445195726https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.scot/users/petealexharris/statuses/116397471445195726Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:47:44 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:27:52 GMT]]>@romeu Could be "air breathed".
Code lines are least an outcome, but tokens are a resource you spent to create outcome.
Like breathing, typing, Watts used by your computer, etc.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/SebastianSolidwork/statuses/116397393324059539https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/SebastianSolidwork/statuses/116397393324059539Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:27:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:26:21 GMT]]>@romeu Someome came to me the other day asking why my token count was so low. I didn't realize that was a productivity metric. WTF.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116377281084471139/statuses/116397387403992142https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116377281084471139/statuses/116397387403992142Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:26:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:19:31 GMT]]>@romeu
It's like Dotcom eras "Cash burn rate", but this time it's AI data centers burning the planet.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://23.social/users/musevg/statuses/116397360484244145https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://23.social/users/musevg/statuses/116397360484244145Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:19:31 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 11:59:41 GMT]]>@romeu number of left clicks

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mast.uxp.de/users/markus/statuses/116397282500279254https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mast.uxp.de/users/markus/statuses/116397282500279254Mon, 13 Apr 2026 11:59:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 11:31:17 GMT]]>@jkb @romeu "statements dreamed up by the utterly deranged"

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/sanityinc/statuses/116397170874368785https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/sanityinc/statuses/116397170874368785Mon, 13 Apr 2026 11:31:17 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 11:25:52 GMT]]>@jadam_fr @romeu
Hence, we need to be specific: token used to generate code is a BS metric, where BS stands for beyond satanic.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://piaille.fr/users/dupdob/statuses/116397149533232887https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://piaille.fr/users/dupdob/statuses/116397149533232887Mon, 13 Apr 2026 11:25:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 11:22:17 GMT]]>@romeu
I read a story somewhere of a developer setting up a token burning script that builds badly designed cities in Sim City...

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/jadam_fr/statuses/116397135478340529https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/jadam_fr/statuses/116397135478340529Mon, 13 Apr 2026 11:22:17 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:52:56 GMT]]>@romeu It's probably the best possible metric for how hard you're cargo culting though, so it depends on your aims.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/einarwh/statuses/116397020044037970https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/einarwh/statuses/116397020044037970Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:52:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:49:48 GMT]]>@romeu Checkmates Goodhart's law by being a terrible metric even when not measured.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/einarwh/statuses/116397007713911603https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/einarwh/statuses/116397007713911603Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:49:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:49:37 GMT]]>@romeu I burned a lot of fuel, therefore I am very efficient.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://gotosocial.jkbockstael.be/users/jkb/statuses/01KP37C3M42PAT2163QFGGV2S7https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://gotosocial.jkbockstael.be/users/jkb/statuses/01KP37C3M42PAT2163QFGGV2S7Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:49:37 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:48:59 GMT]]>@romeu
I once had to explain to HR that a code check in was not a valid metric for a write up of a senior developer. They were angry he wasn't doing as many check ins as the junior developers. I walked them through that he was a code reviewer and that he had more impactful check ins, but they were not convinced.

I then pulled up one of their power points and showed them the version history. I hypothetically asked them why they were not more consistently productive and some days didn't have any updates.

It helped a lot.

I still feel crazy thinking about it.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/MR_E/statuses/116397004529831546https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/MR_E/statuses/116397004529831546Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:48:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:39:05 GMT]]>@romeu yeah, exactly. I thought it… Wow

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/users/RosaCtrl/statuses/116396965598799526https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/users/RosaCtrl/statuses/116396965598799526Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:39:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:37:59 GMT]]>@RosaCtrl in vim golf the goal is to use the least

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/romeu/statuses/116396961275730244https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/romeu/statuses/116396961275730244Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:37:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:33:23 GMT]]>@romeu that's one way to double down on "so foolish as to book that count on the wrong side of the ledger"

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/users/garoof/statuses/116396943189576238https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/users/garoof/statuses/116396943189576238Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:33:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:30:02 GMT]]>@natpryce@mastodon.social @romeu@mastodon.social "I spent more money, give me a raise!"

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://bonfire.mavnn.eu/pub/objects/01KP3688RYE8QD7HZ0NRJ2A6YPhttps://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://bonfire.mavnn.eu/pub/objects/01KP3688RYE8QD7HZ0NRJ2A6YPMon, 13 Apr 2026 10:30:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:28:24 GMT]]>@romeu I thought it was more like Vim golf 🧐

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/users/RosaCtrl/statuses/116396923576527804https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/users/RosaCtrl/statuses/116396923576527804Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:28:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to People are using « tokens used » as productivity metric ?! on Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:25:33 GMT]]>@romeu It's just the new "1st post!" from Slashdot back in the good old days 😉

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://ruhr.social/users/itnomad/statuses/116396912367299180https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://ruhr.social/users/itnomad/statuses/116396912367299180Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:25:33 GMT