Code Complete by Steve McConnell : Preface and Chapter 1

Preface

The author highlights following points:

• There is a large gap between the quality of best and average software engineering practice.
• It takes 5 to 15 years for a research development to make its way into commercial practice.
• The book helps a programmer write high quality software quickly and with fewer problems.
• The book focuses on implementation part of software development life cycle and therefore it is useful to experienced or self-taught programmers as well as fresh graduates.
• The techniques in the book fills the void after introductory and advanced programming texts.
• Software construction accounts for about 80 percent of the effort on small projects and 50 percent for medium projects.
• Software construction accounts for 75 percent of errors on small projects and 50 to 75 percent for medium and large projects.
• There was no comparable book available when the book was written.

Chapter 1

The author highlights following points:

• Software construction includes not just coding and debugging but also some detailed design and unit testing.
• Software construction is important because:
1. Average programmer has a lot of scope to improve productivity with a focus on construction
2. Software construction is a large part of software development
3. Software construction is a pivotal part of software development
4. Software construction's product, the source code, is the only accurate description of the software.