Code Complete

This article is about the software development book. For the software release life cycle stage "code complete", see Software release life cycle.

Code Complete is a software development book, written by Steve McConnell and published in 1993 by Microsoft Press, urging developers to get past code and fix programming and the "big design up front" waterfall model. It is also a compendium of software construction techniques, from naming variables to deciding when to write a subroutine.

McConnell defines the main activities in construction as:

• detailed design
• construction planning
• coding and debugging
• unit testing
• integration, and
• integration testing

Although he does not dismiss the value of other aspects of software development such as requirements and documentation, McConnell emphasizes the construction of software because:

• Construction is a large part of software development.
• Construction is the central activity in software development.
• With a focus on construction, the individual programmer's productivity can improve enormously.
• The source code defines the operation of the software; if code and documentation disagree, the documentation is wrong.
• Construction is the only activity that's guaranteed to be done.

Reception

Code Complete has received outstanding reviews, being widely regarded as one of the leading must-reads for software developers. It won a Jolt award in 1993.

Editions

• ISBN 978-1-55615-484-3 First edition (1993)
• ISBN 978-0-7356-1967-8 Second edition (June 2004)

External links

• Code Complete's 2nd edition website
• Steve McConnell's website
• Code Complete review
• Code Complete Checklists