I can't speak for Cornstalks, but here's my take:
In the real world, building software means many different things:
- Actually writing new code
- Reading existing code, either to inform the creation of new code, or to improve what already exists
- Thinking about code
- Talking about code with colleagues
- Working on documentation
- All the miscellaneous stuff that having a real job entails: meetings, reports, etc.
Especially if you are working on a product that's already in-use someplace, you don't just bang out reams of new code all day. Understanding and refining existing code is far more of a time sink than just typing new syntax into your IDE.
I spend only a fraction of my day actually in my IDE, and only a tiny fraction of that writing new code.
Even on my personal hobby projects, far more time goes into planning and maintenance than actually churning out squiggly symbols.
My gut feeling - and I suspect Cornstalks shares this sentiment - is that people who are (A) focused on LOC production and/or (B) talk about dozens or hundreds or thousands of LOC a day are
doing something wrong.
Would you rather have a dentist who needs three hours to give you a root canal and a crown, or thirty seconds to rip out all your teeth and hand you a pair of dentures?