- Code Complete, Second Edition
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- I. Laying the Foundation
- 1. Welcome to Software Construction
- 2. Metaphors for a Richer Understanding of Software Development
- 3. Measure Twice, Cut Once: Upstream Prerequisites
- 3.1. Importance of Prerequisites
- 3.2. Determine the Kind of Software You're Working On
- 3.3. Problem-Definition Prerequisite
- 3.4. Requirements Prerequisite
- 3.5. Architecture Prerequisite
- Typical Architectural Components
- Program Organization
- Major Classes
- Data Design
- Business Rules
- User Interface Design
- Resource Management
- Security
- Performance
- Scalability
- Interoperability
- Internationalization/Localization
- Input/Output
- Error Processing
- Fault Tolerance
- Architectural Feasibility
- Overengineering
- Buy-vs.-Build Decisions
- Reuse Decisions
- Change Strategy
- General Architectural Quality
- Typical Architectural Components
- 3.6. Amount of Time to Spend on Upstream Prerequisites
- Additional Resources
- Key Points
- 4. Key Construction Decisions
- II. Creating High-Quality Code
- 5. Design in Construction
- 5.1. Design Challenges
- 5.2. Key Design Concepts
- 5.3. Design Building Blocks: Heuristics
- Find Real-World Objects
- Form Consistent Abstractions
- Encapsulate Implementation Details
- Inherit—When Inheritance Simplifies the Design
- Hide Secrets (Information Hiding)
- Identify Areas Likely to Change
- Keep Coupling Loose
- Look for Common Design Patterns
- Other Heuristics
- Summary of Design Heuristics
- Guidelines for Using Heuristics
- 5.4. Design Practices
- 5.5. Comments on Popular Methodologies
- Additional Resources
- Key Points
- 6. Working Classes
- 7. High-Quality Routines
- 8. Defensive Programming
- 8.1. Protecting Your Program from Invalid Inputs
- 8.2. Assertions
- 8.3. Error-Handling Techniques
- 8.4. Exceptions
- 8.5. Barricade Your Program to Contain the Damage Caused by Errors
- 8.6. Debugging Aids
- 8.7. Determining How Much Defensive Programming to Leave in Production Code
- 8.8. Being Defensive About Defensive Programming
- Additional Resources
- Key Points
- 9. The Pseudocode Programming Process
- 5. Design in Construction
- III. Variables
- 10. General Issues in Using Variables
- 11. The Power of Variable Names
- 12. Fundamental Data Types
- 13. Unusual Data Types
- IV. Statements
- 14. Organizing Straight-Line Code
- 15. Using Conditionals
- 16. Controlling Loops
- 17. Unusual Control Structures
- 18. Table-Driven Methods
- 19. General Control Issues
- 19.1. Boolean Expressions
- Using true and false for Boolean Tests
- Making Complicated Expressions Simple
- Forming Boolean Expressions Positively
- Using Parentheses to Clarify Boolean Expressions
- Knowing How Boolean Expressions Are Evaluated
- Writing Numeric Expressions in Number-Line Order
- Guidelines for Comparisons to 0
- Common Problems with Boolean Expressions
- 19.2. Compound Statements (Blocks)
- 19.3. Null Statements
- 19.4. Taming Dangerously Deep Nesting
- 19.5. A Programming Foundation: Structured Programming
- 19.6. Control Structures and Complexity
- Key Points
- 19.1. Boolean Expressions
- V. Code Improvements
- 20. The Software-Quality Landscape
- 21. Collaborative Construction
- 22. Developer Testing
- 23. Debugging
- 24. Refactoring
- 25. Code-Tuning Strategies
- 26. Code-Tuning Techniques
- VI. System Considerations
- 27. How Program Size Affects Construction
- 28. Managing Construction
- 29. Integration
- 30. Programming Tools
- VII. Software Craftsmanship
- 31. Layout and Style
- 32. Self-Documenting Code
- 32.1. External Documentation
- 32.2. Programming Style as Documentation
- 32.3. To Comment or Not to Comment
- 32.4. Keys to Effective Comments
- 32.5. Commenting Techniques
- 32.6. IEEE Standards
- Additional Resources
- Key Points
- 33. Personal Character
- 33.1. Isn't Personal Character Off the Topic?
- 33.2. Intelligence and Humility
- 33.3. Curiosity
- 33.4. Intellectual Honesty
- 33.5. Communication and Cooperation
- 33.6. Creativity and Discipline
- 33.7. Laziness
- 33.8. Characteristics That Don't Matter As Much As You Might Think
- 33.9. Habits
- Additional Resources
- Key Points
- 34. Themes in Software Craftsmanship
- 34.1. Conquer Complexity
- 34.2. Pick Your Process
- 34.3. Write Programs for People First, Computers Second
- 34.4. Program into Your Language, Not in It
- 34.5. Focus Your Attention with the Help of Conventions
- 34.6. Program in Terms of the Problem Domain
- 34.7. Watch for Falling Rocks
- 34.8. Iterate, Repeatedly, Again and Again
- 34.9. Thou Shalt Rend Software and Religion Asunder
- Key Points
- 35. Where to Find More Information
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Author
For my money, the PPP is the best method for creating classes and routines. Here are some different approaches recommended by other experts. You can use these approaches as alternatives or as supplements to the PPP.
Test-first development. Test-first is a popular development style in which test cases are written prior to writing any code. This approach is described in more detail in "Test First or Test Last?" in Recommended Approach to Developer Testing. A good book on test-first programming is Kent Beck's Test-Driven Development: By Example (Beck 2003).
Refactoring. Refactoring is a development approach in which you improve code through a series of semantic preserving transformations. Programmers use patterns of bad code or "smells" to identify sections of code that need to be improved. Chapter 24, describes this approach in detail, and a good book on the topic is Martin Fowler's Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code (Fowler 1999).
Design by contract. Design by contract is a development approach in which each routine is considered to have preconditions and postconditions. This approach is described in "Use assertions to document and verify preconditions and postconditions" in Assertions. The best source of information on design by contract is Bertrand Meyers's Object-Oriented Software Construction (Meyer 1997).
Hacking? Some programmers try to hack their way toward working code rather than using a systematic approach like the PPP. If you've ever found that you've coded yourself into a corner in a routine and have to start over, that's an indication that the PPP might work better. If you find yourself losing your train of thought in the middle of coding a routine, that's another indication that the PPP would be beneficial. Have you ever simply forgotten to write part of a class or part of routine? That hardly ever happens if you're using the PPP. If you find yourself staring at the computer screen not knowing where to start, that's a surefire sign that the PPP would make your programming life easier.
Cross-Reference
The point of this list is to check whether you followed a good set of steps to create a routine. For a checklist that focuses on the quality of the routine itself, see the checklist in "Chapter 7".
The Pseudocode Programming Process
Have you checked that the prerequisites have been satisfied?
Have you defined the problem that the class will solve?
Is the high-level design clear enough to give the class and each of its routines a good name?
Have you thought about how to test the class and each of its routines?
Have you thought about efficiency mainly in terms of stable interfaces and readable implementations or mainly in terms of meeting resource and speed budgets?
Have you checked the standard libraries and other code libraries for applicable routines or components?
Have you designed each routine by using detailed pseudocode?
Have you mentally checked the pseudocode? Is it easy to understand?
Have you paid attention to warnings that would send you back to design (use of global data, operations that seem better suited to another class or another routine, and so on)?
Did you translate the pseudocode to code accurately?
Did you apply the PPP recursively, breaking routines into smaller routines when needed?
Did you document assumptions as you made them?
Did you remove comments that turned out to be redundant?
Have you chosen the best of several iterations, rather than merely stopping after your first iteration?
Do you thoroughly understand your code? Is it easy to understand?
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