Longest chain IUPAC rule
In Chapter P-4 "Rules for Name Construction", section P-44 "Seniority Order for Parent Structures", of Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry: IUPAC Recommendations and Preferred Names 2013, it is stated that (p 490):


  P-44.3.2 The principal chain has the greater number of skeletal atoms [criterion (b) in P-44.3].


The Blue Book lists several helpful examples, one of which is that the principal chain "octane" is senior to "hept-1-ene". Therefore, the following compound



is named 3-methylideneoctane instead of 2-ethylhept-1-ene.

The authors mention that this preference is in contrast to previous recommendations (e.g. 1979):


  In acyclic parent structures the order of seniority between unsaturation and length of chain given in earlier recommendations is reversed. Thus, the first criterion to be considered in choosing a preferred parent acyclic chain is the length of the chain; unsaturation is now the second.