Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction (Paperback)

To entry-level programmers and computer science students, this book is an excellent primer on the fundamentals of the industry. For experienced programmers, this book is an great way to review your own development strategies and best practices. For project managers, Code Complete serves as a great source of ideas for process improvement, as well as a great learning tool to pass on to new entry-level hires. My employer has used several chapters out of Code Complete as the basis for discussion topics.

McConnell writes in an easy-to-read, entertaining style that has made him one of the most popular authors in the field. His book "Rapid Development", is also an extremely popular book on software development, and many (including me) are anxiously awaiting his next work, "Software Project Survivial Guide".

In short, Code Complete belongs in the library of every serious developer.

This is not "how to program" - for that you probably want a language specific book anyway. This is more like "how to be a programmer". The difference may seem subtle, and if you have never worked as a professional developer it may be a little vague, but there is a difference between writing code for yourself or even for a university course and writing code for a living. As an undergraduate, for example, you may want to write a recursive routine to demonstrate your knowledge but in a "real-life" project recursion is a last resort. This book explains that difference and leads the way to a preofessional approach to software development.

Highly recommended for developers. Manager could read it but to be honest they would be better off investing their time in other books, such as Rapid Development. No, this one is aimed squarely at those on the code face and should be essential reading to anyone starting a career in software.

My only gripe is that it is now 10 years old so there are no examples in Java, C++, Perl, C# etc... The examples that are given are clear and easy to follow but it would be great if an updated edition could be produced. Also, another nice-to-have would be some coverage of OO development. Don't let this put you off, just because it is not 100% up-to-date does not mean it is not 100% useful.

I thought it's just the experience and knowledge of almost all the possible (MFC) functions that exist. Code Complete showed me that it's a lot more than that, beginning by designing your program, not just starting to write code right away, up to topics like naming conventions for variables, how to determine what code to put into a routine or how to make your program easier to debug.

Although Code Complete may sound like a very dry book only for expert programmers, it really isn't. Steve McConnell even managed to throw in a lot of amusing anecdotes or witty tests - like the one: "How many of these data structures do you know?". If you checked (almost) ALL of them, you're advised to read the section about intellectual honesty - because some of the data structures are bogus names made up by the author. :)

All in all, I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone , whether you're a professional programmer (for me that is any programmer whose job is programming <g>) or a hobbyist like me, wanting to create the applications you always dreamed of but thought you could never manage it.

Especially interesting for students or anyone trying to start a career as a programmer: this book contains a lot of 'further reading' advices with short descriptions of the books. So this book is also an excellent entry point for those wanting to become a professional programmer and are looking to fill the mind gaps where necessary.