>The difference between $200/line and what each of us is making is that DataQuest et al. are including costs other than the programmer's salary. For example, the computer costs. The President's salary (including his golden parachute). The sales & marketing staff's salaries and benefits. Rent/mortgage on the office building, Electric bills, Phone bills. Etc., etc. etc.

Some additional costs are included but not all of these! Many Fortune 500 companies have provided data about how muct it cost them to develop, debug, and document "internal products" that they use to run their business. The numbers I have found ($50-200/line) apply to these kinds of projects. Once an app is deployed as an internal product, the cost of maintaining it is also included. However, the cost of the computers are certainly not included if they are not used in developing the app, but rather, only for deploying it. As a matter of fact, I don't think the hardware (i.e., capital goods) costs are included at all.