Steve McConnell

“it's done by creating 25 times as many dirty tests”

— Steve McConnell

... programming requires more concentration than other activities. It's the reason programmers get upset about 'quick interruptions' - such interruptions are tantamount…

— Steve McConnell

The job of the average manager requires a shift in focus every few minutes. The job of the average software developer requires…

— Steve McConnell

“the road to programming hell is paved with global variables,”

— Steve McConnell

“usually more time is spent in making good-looking presentation slides than in improving the quality of the software.”

— Steve McConnell

It's hard enough to find an error in your code when you're looking for it; it's even harder when you've assumed your…

— Steve McConnell

“the error rate in manual testing is comparable to the bug rate in the code being tested.”

— Steve McConnell

“few people can understand more than three levels of nested ifs”

— Steve McConnell

“[...] you shouldn't be uneasy about any parts of the architecture. It shouldn't contain anything just to please the boss. It shouldn't…

— Steve McConnell

It's OK to figure out murder mysteries, but you shouldn't need to figure out code. You should be able to read it.

— Steve McConnell

“Programmers working with high-level languages achieve better productivity and quality than those working with lower-level languages. Languages such as C++, Java, Smalltalk,…

— Steve McConnell

The trouble with quick and dirty is that dirty remains long after quick has been forgotten.

— Steve McConnell

“Be sure that the names you choose favor read-time convenience over write-time convenience.”

— Steve McConnell

Even when you have skilled, motivated, hard-working people, the wrong team structure can undercut their efforts instead of catapulting them to success.…

— Steve McConnell

A typical software project can present more opportunities to learn from mistakes than some people get in a lifetime.

— Steve McConnell

The default movement on a software project should be in the direction of taking elements of the software away to make it…

— Steve McConnell

“Favor read-time convenience to write-time convenience. Code”

— Steve McConnell

“Hurrying to solve a problem is one of the most time-ineffective things you can do.”

— Steve McConnell

Heuristic is an algorithm in a clown suit. It’s less predictable, it’s more fun, and it comes without a 30-day, money-back guarantee.

— Steve McConnell

In my experience, you either have encapsulation and abstraction or you have neither. There is no middle ground.

— Steve McConnell

“it's better to strive for a good solution and avoid disaster rather than trying to find the best solution”

— Steve McConnell

“There is no code so big, twisted, or complex that maintenance can't make it worse.”

— Steve McConnell

In software, consultants sometimes tell you to buy into certain software-development methods to the exclusion of other methods. That’s unfortunate because if…

— Steve McConnell

“Spend your time on the 20 percent of the refactorings that provide 80 percent of the benefit.”

— Steve McConnell

“You can do anything with stacks and iteration that you can do with recursion.”

— Steve McConnell