They Say it is one of The Books

So I finished Code Complete and I did enjoy it.

I started writing this on Friday (it is now Sunday morning for those that do not want to do date math from the archives) and I did something I like to do often but in the end turned out to be a bad idea. I have a slightly masochistic habit of reading the low rating reviews of products that I liked. Although I enjoy doing this, it made the first draft more of a defense of the book then a review of the book and its use to me.

This book comes highly recommended from various sources. So I don't really need to promote this book myself. Though personally I would still recommend people to read it at least once. Or make sure you know about all the topics covered in the book.

The book is an overview of many topics in Code Construction and some discussion on software project management. As I mentioned earlier, I have seen most of these topics before from other sources. Working even as UNIX systems administrator, I worked with software developers and I have had my share of design reviews. Also being a PMP, I kind of know a little bit about project management.

What the book does is it gives the reader a concise overview and connection between all the topics covered. It does it all at a high level and for the most part language independent. So if you are trying to get some tips on tuning your C++ source code, this book does not offer any specific advice. However, if you don't know where to start with code tuning, this book will help you think about what to address.

Personally, this book has been very useful. All the random collections of information I had on programing is now better organized in my head. I now have a clearer understanding of what I was doing "instinctively" and now I can modify my methods to produce more useful code.

My major take way for use on the YAR-Project is to not worry too much about making the most efficiently running code at start, and error on the side of readability and clear logic.