Rating: 
Summary: If you write code read this book
Review: Every programmer should read this book. If you have inexperienced programmers on your staff have them read this book. Then talk to them about some of the concepts in this book. Its amazing to talk to programmers who just don't get it. Why should I comment my code when it will just make me easier to replace? Why should I keep it simple, I can handle pointer arithmetic. Why does my code have to follow these guidelines?
Hopefully after reading this book they will see the light. Even if they don't if you follow up with them at least you will know what you are getting into by keeping them on staff.
I read a complaint about the code being in pascal and that it was out of date. That comment misses the point entirely. If we spend to much time looking through a microscope at the particuly current technology and only viewing our own sections of code we tend to lose track of the big picture. Good commenting and formating details may vary with languages and over time but the general principles outlined in the book will help you across languages long into the future.
Rating:
Summary: One of the finest programming books ever written
Review: I bought this book right after it was published and literally could not put it down. I demanded that our company purchase a copy for every software developer and make it required reading, and even offered to teach an in-house course using this book as the text. One copy was purchased, the software manager skimmed through it, and it still sits on his bookshelf, gathering dust. I no longer work there. In fact, my consulting company was recently purchased by one of their largest competitors. yee-haw! If you are a programmer, read this book, NOW! It will make your life as a developer much easier for years to come. I know it has made me a much more mature developer. That means it takes me less time to develop and debug programs than many of my less fortunate colleagues. Programming is both an art and a science, and this book will teach you to be better at both.
Rating:
Summary: A must-have (really!) for all coders
Review: I can't say enough good things about this book. The programming community desperately needs some basic standards for how to write good code that is readable and extensible, and therefore time-saving and cost-conscious. In hundreds of pages of text worth reading, McConnell's thesis boils down to one simple point: Great code should be great bathtub reading. The reader should have a basic facility of the language, but if the reader can't decipher the code without having to flip extensively from page to page or carefully tracking variables, it isn't great code. This book provides many guidelines to writing good code. And it's not just theoretical: The author bases his tenets on behavioral research of programmers. More importantly, the practices outlined here are mostly common sense. Sadly though, these tenets are, in my experience, not very often followed. If you are a programmer and you are not following McConnell's basic guidelines, you are not good at what you do -- no matter how much you think differently. Whether you are a beginner or a pro, read it!
Rating: 
Summary: "Code Complete"ly useless... or almost so
Review: As an experienced but informally educated programmer, I'm always on the look-out for basic information I may have missed over the years. I purchased "Code Complete" based on the Amazon reviews, which almost unanimously suggested this was a vital addition to any serious programmer's library.That might have been true back in 1993, when the book was published. In 2002, "Complete" reads like a repair manual for Connestoga wagons -- an historical curiosity, with little practical use for the modern professional. (At least half the code examples are in Pascal; how many companies code in Pascal these days?) Most telling is the book's brief nod to Object-Oriented Programming as an up-and-coming technique for good programming practices; a slightly more modern treatment would have *focused* on OOP, to far better effect. Perhaps I'm just annoyed at wasting my money on a primer, when what I wanted was an information-dense manual. However, if you're in 4th grade and learning BASIC, "Code Complete" might actually help to improve your marks a level or two.
Rating: 
Summary: A must for every programmer
Review: This book is one of the best in giving the most useful
tips of software construction. It is useful for entry
level programmers as well as for veterans. You know experience
in terms of just number of years spent does not count much.
Read it and make your coworkers read it. And most important
thing - follow it when you are writing code. I did not give
it five star only because I reserve it for the classics
like "The Art of Computer Programming".
Rating:
Summary: Good information, but out of date.
Review: I like this book and believe that the information in it is critical knowledge that every programmer should have, and that there may not be a better book available for these kinds of core programming techniques and principles. I especially liked the section at the beginning that discusses the true nature of good programming (using the metaphor "Software Construction"), the principles of Team Programming, and the cost of discovering errors in design and coding too late. Having said this, I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 for several reasons. First, the book is outdated. It uses examples from languages such as Fortran and Basic to make its points, languages which are not in widespread use anymore. It brings up the GOTO argument, an old argument made irrelevant by most programming languages today. It discusses Object Oriented programming from a viewpoint that it is still in its infancy. Second, I disagree with some of the author's conclusions, among which is the code indentation techniques. The author claims that indentation is not required within structures such as loops, but I claim that without this indentation it is impossible to visually set off the loop code from the rest of the code. Finally, I get the uneasy feeling that the person who needs this information most desperately (the neophyte programmer) might not understand the examples given without already being a pretty good programmer, and good programmers should already have a good grasp of the principles in this book. Bottom line: If you are an experienced programmer (like I am), you can probably look beyond the outdated examples and the author's opinions, and extract some information from this book that will be useful to you. If you are a beginning programmer I am not convinced that this book would be useful to you as an individual read. You might be better off using it as a supplement while you learn your programming language of choice.
Rating:
Summary: A completer turn-around! Excellent in every way.
Review: I recieved this book for Christmas as the sort of wanted, but not wanted gift. Then I started reading it. My coding ways have changed completely, and I feel that I actually have a better grip on programming than I ever have before. This is quite possibly the best book, and no doubt the most informative, on coding ways and methods. Definatly a great volume for any level of coder.
Rating:
Summary: Every Programmer should own this
Review: Great book and gives psychological input to programmer's life. Made life easy to live in front of computer coding for ever.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: This is really a fantastic book. It contains hundreds of pages of pratical information you can use to design efficient, reuseable, and debuggable software. The book cites many research studies to support its points. Some may say that this book is not useful because it was written before the advent of object oriented software. I totally disagree with them. Many of the same concepts are involved in writing good object oriented software, and many programs still exist in C or Fortran. The book is still as useful as it ever was; though, you will need to supplement it with a book covering object oriented concepts. I suggest this to veteran and new progammers because the book has information that will help the veteran and has techniques that will get the new programmer off on the right foot. Take the time to read the whole book because it is all good and none of it is repetative. All professional programmers should read this book early in their career. In the long run, it will save time, money, and effort.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have For Any Beginnning or Serious Developers
Review: Ever read books where you are only able to extract two good paragraphs of information in a span of one or more chapters? Well, this book is a little different. Whether you are a beginning or experienced software developer, you will find every page of infomation in this book worth your while to go through. It first, points out the proper approach and guideline that sotware development should take. Then it details on why and how, from both a theoretical and practical point of view, weighing trade-offs between ad-hoc and elegant design approaches. Pointing out classical problems and pitfalls, and better means of avoiding them. Also, a good short synopsis on factors to consider in deciding whether to use structured or object-oriented design in your design.(OOAD is not always the better choice, and it tells you why) This book wont teach you how to write syntax or programming in any particular programming language, but it will equiped you with the necessary tools of design techniques and best practices before you write one-single line of code. Software engineering(at times) is an inderministic process, which requires persistence, innovations and even(and definitely) brute force. Having "Code Complete" will help you stay on the right path and better your chances of succeeding. Buy it, read it, and read it again. It doesn't require you to read it in any particular order and thus suits the experience level of any readers. This book is also a viable tool for software managers that manage critical software systems. The best (money)you will ever spend on a software book. It will accelerate anyone's learning curve in the field of software engineering. If you are a beginner, it will help you start off on the right foot in developing software. If you are a experienced developer, it might point out some bad habbits that you might not realize that you are practicing. It might offer better alternatives to your existing problem solving approach. It certainly humbles me as a reader and an experienced developer on the idea there will always be better solutions to a problem out there. Believe me, it will make a difference in the way you think and do things. You will learn to appreciate the art of designing software and the world of software engineering. Happy Reading!
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