Steve McConnell Quotes

21 quotes in 371 categories

• 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 code is error-free.
• Good code is its own best documentation. As you're about to add a comment, ask yourself, "How can I improve the code so that this…
• Good code is its own best documentation.
• It's OK to figure out murder mysteries, but you shouldn't need to figure out code. You should be able to read it.
• It's better to wait for a productive programmer to become available than it is to wait for the first available programmer to become productive.
• ... programming requires more concentration than other activities. It's the reason programmers get upset about 'quick interruptions' - such interruptions are tantamount to asking a…
• The default movement on a software project should be in the direction of taking elements of the software away to make it simpler rather than…
• Testing by itself does not improve software quality. Test results are an indicator of quality, but in and of themselves, they don't improve it. Trying…
• A brute force solution that works is better than an elegant solution that doesn't work.
• Good visual layout shows the logical structure of a program.
• The job of the average manager requires a shift in focus every few minutes. The job of the average software developer requires that the developer…
• Even when you have skilled, motivated, hard-working people, the wrong team structure can undercut their efforts instead of catapulting them to success. A poor team…
• Software projects fail for one of two general reasons: the project team lacks the knowledge to conduct a software project successfully, or the project team…
• In software, the chain isn't as strong as its weakest link; it's as weak as all the weak links multiplied together.
• In software, consultants sometimes tell you to buy into certain software-development methods to the exclusion of other methods. That’s unfortunate because if you buy into…
• There are no secrets on an successful software project. Both good and bad news must be able to move up and down the ptoject hierarchy…
• A blanket attempt to avoid mistakes is the biggest mistake of all.
• 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.
• The trouble with quick and dirty is that dirty remains long after quick has been forgotten.
• 95% on content and the computer language remains the same.

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