cloc

cloc is a source code line counter for files, directories, archives, and git revisions. It reports blank, comment, and code lines by language and can also diff two snapshots of a codebase.

• Measure language mix and code volume across a repo, directory tree, archive, or checked-out project.
• Compare two commits, branches, directories, or archives to see how blank, comment, and code counts changed.
• Generate per-file, JSON, XML, YAML, or SQL reports for audits, trend tracking, or downstream analysis.

• Non-interactive flags, deterministic report modes, and support for file lists or VCS-backed inputs make it easy to drop into scripts and CI checks.
• JSON output is real and easy to parse, and --by-file, --diff, and --vcs git expose useful inspection surfaces for repo analysis loops.
• It is inspection-only: useful for audits, sizing, and change analysis, but it does not modify repos or understand code semantics beyond comment heuristics.

• Counts are heuristic rather than parser-based, so embedded languages, comment markers inside strings, and docstrings can skew results.
• Some archive and VCS workflows depend on external tools like git, rpm2cpio, or dpkg-deb being available.