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Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction Paperback – 1 Jan. 1993

by Steven C. McConnell (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 61 ratings
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Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction
Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction
£31.75
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"Code complete" is the phrase used by programmers to announce the completion of a software program. Drawing its examples from a variety of computer languages, this book focuses on programming technique rather than the requirements of a specific programming language or environment. Steve McConnell developed True Type and Windows for the Microsoft Corporation. Topics include: front-end planning, applying good design techniques to construction, using data effectively, using common and advanced control structures, secrets of self-documenting code, testing and debugging techniques, improving performance with code tuning, managing construction activities, and relating personal character to the development of superior software.
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  1. ISBN-10
    1556154844
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1556154843
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Microsoft Press,U.S.
  5. Publication date
    1 Jan. 1993
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    18.75 x 4.55 x 23.29 cm
  8. Print length
    752 pages
  9. See all details
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Product description

Amazon Review

A modern-day classic on software engineering, Code Complete focuses on specific practices you can use to improve your code and your ability to debug it--and ultimately deliver better, more efficient programs in less time. With every bit of advice the book proffers you'll improve your ability to write elegant, self-documenting, maintainable software. McConnell doesn't focus on the idiosyncrasies of any single language, but on the general issues developers face: naming subroutines and variables in meaningful ways, designing control structures, finding and correcting errors in code, and many, many more. Code Complete is packed with code samples demonstrating good and bad programming practices and checklists that you can use to vet your own work.

From the author's preface: "My primary concern in writing this book has been to narrow the gap between the knowledge of industry gurus and professors on one hand and common commercial practice on the other. Although leading-edge software-development practice has advanced rapidly in recent years, common practice hasn't. Many programs are still buggy, late, and over budget, and many fail to satisfy the needs of users. The research and programming experience collected in this book will help you to create high-quality software and do your work more quickly and with fewer problems."

From the publisher: "Whatever your background--experienced developer, self-taught programmer, or programming student--this ingeniously organised handbook contains state-of-the-art information that can help you write better programs in less time with fewer headaches. Code Complete is not a panacea, but it is an encyclopedic treatment of software construction, the most important part of the software-development cycle. It contains some 500 examples of code (good and bad) and includes ready-to-use checklists to help you assess your architecture, design approach, and module and routine quality.

Perhaps most important of all, Code Complete provides a larger perspective on the software-development process and the role of construction in the process that will inform and stimulate your thinking about your own projects, enabling you to take strategic action rather than fight the same battles again and again.

The concepts discussed in Code Complete are applicable to any procedural language in any computing environment. --Amazon.com

From the Publisher

'We were impressed by Code Complete...a pleasure to read, either straight through or as a reference. An invaluable $35 reference.' — PC Week. This runaway bestseller is a practical guide to software design that discusses the art and science of constructing software. Examples are provided in C, Pascal, Basic, Fortran, and Ada, but the focus is on successful programming techniques.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Microsoft Press,U.S.; 1st edition (1 Jan. 1993)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 752 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1556154844
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1556154843
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 18.75 x 4.55 x 23.29 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 61 ratings

About the author

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Steve McConnell

Steve McConnell

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Steve McConnell is an award-winning, best selling CEO and author. His newest book is "More Effective Agile: A Roadmap for Software Leaders." His first book, "Code Complete", has been recognized as the best-selling, best-reviewed software development book of all time. His books have been translated into 20 languages and sold more than one million copies worldwide.

Steve is passionate about increasing software organizational performance by improving the skills of individuals and teams. Steve is founder and CEO at Construx Software, which provides training, consulting, coaching and free resources focused on more effective software development practices. Check it out at construx.com.

Steve's newest book, More Effective Agile, was published in August 2019. Check out resources related to Steve's new book at moreeffectiveagile.com.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
61 global ratings

Top reviews from United Kingdom

Dr K
5.0 out of 5 stars ... first book on software craftmenship and it was a brilliant introduction to it
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 November 2017
Verified Purchase
This was my first book on software craftmenship and it was a brilliant introduction to it.

I also purchased the second edition digitally, but after 5 years of purchasing this I still have the physical copy and occasionally read through it.

I would recommend also reading Test Driven Development by Example and Clean Code.
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A. Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 January 2013
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This book is a fantastic introduction to 'c' programming and if you have programmed before in another language then this book is ideal in aiding the transistion.
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CodeMonkey
5.0 out of 5 stars !tl;dr - short review
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 October 2010
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for anyone who wants a quick view (i.e. not tl;dr)

If you write software you MUST read this book!
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S. A
3.0 out of 5 stars Let down by poor examples
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 August 2008
This book is jam-packed with useful guidance and information. Unfortunately, the examples given are both few in number and rather obscure, which is as surprising as it is disappointing, considering that the book is over 800 pages long. Nevertheless, some of the tips given are clear enough, even without the benefit of accompanying code excerpts. For example, the section on using Procedure Description Langauege to design programs is one of the best that I have seen on the subject. The stuff on using random patterns in testing was also a real eye-opener.

This book is certainly not a reference text but I'm sure everybody can take a few pointers from it to spruce up their programming.
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lpacheco
4.0 out of 5 stars Buy "Clean Code" instead
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 August 2017
Reviewing old acquisitions more than a decade after the fact... This was a good book in the 90's. Never had the chance to read "Code Complete 2", but today I would enthusiastically recommend Uncle Bob's  "Clean Code"  instead of this book. The video "version" is up to date and extremely enjoyable, if you have the chance to watch (it's available in Safari Books).
One person found this helpful
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Peter - The Reading Desk
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Software Engineering Book Written
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 February 2018
Probably the best software engineering book ever written. When I started my career as a software engineer 30 years ago, one piece of advice I was given was, decide if you want to be a programmer or a software engineer. A programmer would be an excellent coder and could learn all sorts of programming languages. A software engineer would understand the lifecycle and his metrics as the product is developed along a lifecycle. When you understand concepts such as de-coupling and error clustering you can see the direct impact of poor practice or ad hoc coding in terms of bugs, crashes, performance, reuse etc. When you understand your metrics you understand other engineers metrics and you know where the bottleneck is likely to occur and what needs attention.

This book explains it all in exceptional detail and I would, and do, advise software engineers to get a copy of this book.
One person found this helpful
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John
5.0 out of 5 stars It's The Bible
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 May 2008
Read this and your coding will be right first time more often more defensively programmed when it does go wrong, simpler (!), easier to read and easier for others to read, and faster where it needs to be. I still go on about something being a "Candy Machine Interface" (lol - you'll have to read the book) to this day.

I accept what others say about it not covering good class design etc. True, true. It can only really help the code inside your methods in these OO days, but like someone else said - it's worth 10 stars anyway so if I knocked two off for its lack of coverage on objects that would be what.. just the 8 then!
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Normann Aaboe Nielsen
2.0 out of 5 stars Too old and too little substance
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 June 2002
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As a professional programmer I am always trying to improve my skills and knowledge of what good code is. Therefor I bought this book. But unfortunately, the book is rather old, meaning that it does not address the pitfalls of modern language (like Java or even Visual Basic). I could live with that, if the book did have more substance - but it doesn't.
That the book lacks substance is not to say the it is without value. It is very well written and easy read, and the caveats it presents are OK. But the book claims to be relevant for both the newcomer / graduate programmer and to the experienced / professional programmer. That is not valid! For the experienced coder, the book is simple-minded ("Remember to indent correctly", well yes - that is fine, but why should we dedicate that many pages to that??) and brings not much new.
Perhaps my criticism relate to the problem any such books has: It is difficult to show examples from the real world as these are huge. But it is the knowledge from the huge, real world projects that really moves the experienced.
If you are a pro with some years of experience, I would suggest you to find books about eXtreme Programming instead, or books about pragmatic programming. But for the new guy, the book may prove fine - provided that you remember its age.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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al
5.0 out of 5 stars un livre qui devrait etre obligatoire pour tout bon programmeur
Reviewed in France on 3 November 2017
Verified Purchase
Un livre très complet sur la façon de programmer, qui fourmille d'exemple et de justification par des études (un chapitre entier sur l'utilisation de goto ou de fonctions recursives).
Bien évidemment le livre est axé sur la lisibilité du code et la façon de le rendre encore plus lisible. Un des nombreux conseils de de réécrire le code tant qu'il ne parait pas suffisamment clair.
Bien qu'il date de quelques années, tous ces conseils de bon sens et très argumentés sont toujours valables. Les exemples sont surtout données en pascal, c, basic, mais l'ensemble des reflexions reste applicable dans tous les langages de programmation.
Tous les aspects d'un projet informatique sont passés en revues de la conception au déploiement en passant par les tests, l'intégration et l'optimisation, tout en restant concentré sur la programmation elle-même.
Une très bonne lecture pour tout programmeur qui souhaite progresser.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A very helpful book
Reviewed in Canada on 11 October 2015
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I'm not done reading it yet but so far it's great!
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Andrei
5.0 out of 5 stars Super
Reviewed in Germany on 5 May 2012
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Das Buch ist im guten Zustand und die Lieferung war auch prima. Sehr preiswert kann das Buch auch nur empfehlen wenn man gescheit mit programmieren will. Natürlich ist die neueste Edition aktueller. Doch nach nachforschen und durchgucken des Buchs kommt man auf den Schluss dass viele der hier besprochenen Sachen auch in der ersten Edition noch immer aktuell.
Ich glaube ich holle mir auch die neue Edition, einfach mal um eine Historische Entwicklung zu sehen. Wahrscheinlich sind die gemeinsamen Punkte der Editionen auch noch für die nächsten 10-15 Jahre gültig.
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J. Babcock
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for professional programmers
Reviewed in the United States on 20 August 2004
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If you've had to struggle through maintaining code written

by others who haven't a clue about how to name functions

or variables, this book is a great way to point them in

the right direction. I'm a Computer Science major who

has programmed professionally for 20 years, and this book

really polished my skills. If Steve's guidelines are followed,

readable code is the result that requires very few comments

to be understandable. This book was strongly recommended

reading at my previous job and rightly so.
5 people found this helpful
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設計屋
5.0 out of 5 stars 理論と実践を交えた豊富な事例の手引書！
Reviewed in Japan on 14 May 2003
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先年、IEEE Software　のEditor-of-Cheif を担当していた著者の考えが明確に示された、ソフトウェア技術者への手引書として、相応しい内容である。
理論を実践する際の留意点を、開発現場の立場で、解説している。
初心者にとても適切な指導を与える書籍である。
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