Code Complete, 2nd edition

Well, I had recently complained about some of the pre-publishing hype for McConnell's Code Complete, 2nd Edition.  Every book deserves its chance, so I picked up a copy.

My conclusion?  For too many pages, I felt like I was reading the first edition.  This book is pretty good, but I don't really know if it's worth reading if you've already got the first edition. 

McConnell's treatise on the proper placement of brackets went on for entirely too many pages.  I thought my eyes would bleed if he mentioned indentation structure one more time!

I readily admit that I am a fan of McConnell's Rapid Development. However, Code Complete will be busy gathering dust on my bookshelf.

2 Comments

  • >>Code Complete will be busy gathering dust on my bookshelf.

    Sorry to hear you did not dig Code Complete. In my opinion the first version was the most useful book any programmer could buy, and am sorry I only discovered it in 1998. Even as a veteran of three CS degrees I still rate it very, very highly.

  • I did dig code complete (1st edition) - I just don't think that the 2nd addition is worth purchasing if you're already a proud owner of the 1st ed. There are just too many other books out there to waste time re-reading this one.

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