Code Complete: Book Review

Code is one part of computer programming. The book Code Complete 2nd Edition by Steve McConnell focuses on a diverse group of topics in software engineering. Some of the most interesting parts are about language non-specific coding patterns, such as code tuning. The book talks about management and the software industry, giving a more balanced perspective to software developers.

This review covers the book Code Complete 2nd Edition by Steve McConnell. It recommends the book.

Code Complete overview

First, it is best to see Code Complete as a compilation of research about programming and the software industry in general. In this context, Code Complete is an excellent way to discover many important parts about software engineering. Core to the thesis in the book is that programming should be seen as construction, not as a literary work of art.

Planning. It can be developed through careful planning and methodical process. The book dispels notions that true genius is necessary for top software; instead, a good process results in good software.

How many books do programmers read? In Code Complete, you will find many interesting facts and statistics about software developers, including one that states the average number of books read per year by a programmer is less than one. Steve McConnell then asserts that the best way to get ahead of these programmers is to read books, and to specifically read Code Complete (by Steve McConnell).

Sense of humor. Despite the dry topics in the industry, the book does have a good sense of humor and it is really funny in places. For example, the book includes a play that debates the merits of commenting your code. The play is a parody on ancient Greek dramas, but it has an important subtext: that commenting your code is both subject to debate and worth debating.

Code tuning

If you have an interest in code, you will at some point become interested in how to make that code as fast as possible. Code Complete offers many pages of detailed descriptions of how to optimize loops, optimize function calls, and optimize just about anything at the level of procedural code. Not only this, but the book puts into perspective these optimizations, and shows them to be micro-optimizations and not truly useful in most cases.

Comment your code

One of the best parts of Code Complete is that it devotes a long chapter to how to comment your code. From my experience, commenting code is one area that is lacking even in talented programmers. Code Complete says to comment at the level of intent in your code, and not the level of the implementation. However, because this statement is too vague to be understandable, the book goes much further with specific examples and solutions.

Commenting tips. For me, the section on code commenting was helpful, even with Dot Net Perls and my other projects. In Code Complete, I learned specific ways to indent comments so that they are more readable. Steve McConnell debates these techniques in great detail, and this is useful for finding your personal style. If you have a two-line comment, it can help to indent lines to show they are continued from the previous.

// This is a comment.
// ... This is the second line of the comment.
int i = 1;
// This is another comment.
// ... This is the second line of the second comment.
int y = 2;

Practical code guidelines

Another really useful part of Code Complete is that it offers detailed chapters on different programming constructs, such as conditionals, loops and pointers. For example, the book shows us that using a while(true) loop with if-statements that break was shown to be clearer to new programmers to understand. This level of detail on programming loops is really useful for gaining an understanding of how to make code more understandable.

Required reading?

At some level, the best benefit that Code Complete offers is that it can teach you how to scrutinize the details in your code. It is not required reading for making working programs, but a programmer who knows how to write comments clearly (even at the indentation level), how to arrange multiple statements in a row, and how to arrange convoluted if-statements, will over time show himself to be more valuable to a team than others. As a guidepost to improving your critical programmer thinking skills, Code Complete is an excellent and indispensible book.

Tip: Dot Net Perls recommends Code Complete for all programmers.

Reading tip. For me, this wasn't a book I felt was necessary to read for long uninterrupted periods. It seemed to work best when read for only a few minutes at a time and you can come back to it after a break of several weeks or months pretty easily. As you are working, if you want to learn more about something, you can check Code Complete and it may have some relevant and researched information.

Summary

We completed our review of Code Complete by Steve McConnell, seeing that it provides a practical and thorough overview of all programming and software engineering related tasks. The book steers clear or pure theory and advanced mathematics, but applies research into a practical and useful book that can help distinguish you from people who have not read the book.