Is Code Complete suitable for Web Developers?

Question

It seems everywhere I go, I am bombarded with mentions of Steve McConnell's Code Complete book, my question is this book relevant for Web Developers (PHP Developers) and not just software engineers etc?

Answer 1

IMO, this book is a must read for every developer. The ideas and concepts presented can be applied to any programming language, at least partly.

Answer 2

Yes. Anyone who writes code should read this book. Most developers will move on to write other things. Ones that are more complex. It will not only help with the current job it will help with future ones also. It's one of those books in the industry that people expect programmers to at least know about.

Answer 3

A large part of the book is about methodology and process as it related to professional development. This is just as relevant to web developers.

Answer 4

I enjoyed Pragmatic Programmer more than Code Complete. :)

Answer 5

Your question suggests that web development does not include coding as a discipline. Web development has heavy coding on the server side of things and also has coding in the form of javascript, actionscript if you're using flash, .net if you're using silverlight, etc.

Fact is, if you're a proper web developer, you're going to be doing a lot of coding and any material which helps you improve your general coding skills is going to be worth a read.

Answer 6

Code Complete is kind of like a guitar instructor: you may be really good at what you do, but an authority will correct your bad practices, so you can be great.

Answer 7

I don't know if you've ever seen the book, but for those who haven't, it contains advice like using good variable names, organizing code well, effective debugging, programming "into" your language versus "in" it, and writing programs for people as opposed to computers. The wisdom it contains applies to anyone writing code; actually, I'd even go so far as to say that even managers should read this book in order learn more about how software is constructed effectively.

There are a few parts of the book that are especially good for web developers, such as a section on how to deal with bad inputs with defensive programming. Here's a sample pearl of wisdom:

A good program never puts out garbage, regardless of what it takes in. A good program uses "garbage in, nothing out," "garbage in, error message out," or "no garbage allowed in" instead. By today's standards, "garbage in, garbage out" is the mark of a sloppy, nonsecure program."

Other pearls include why programmers don't need to be super intelligent but must be humble and have the curiosity to learn things, why we must be honest and admit our weaknesses and mistakes, and be good communicators. All of these apply to web developers and anyone else who does intellectual work.

Answer 8

Code Complete is filled with great advice like "Off-by-one errors are common with arrays. If your array access is off by one and you write beyond the end of an array, you can cause a serious error. When you declare the array to be one bigger than the size you think you’ll need, you give yourself a cushion and soften the consequences of an off-by-one error."

Answer 9

I'm a PHP developer who has been doing web development for a while. Code Complete is an excellent book and is definitely applicable to web developers. PHP especially is a wonderful language, but it can allow the programmer to take some short-cuts or make mistakes that can lead to security issues. I also find that as web applications become bigger and more complex (aka Amazon's websites, Facebook, Google Docs, etc) using established development techniques and knowing what makes for quality code is becoming more and more important.

Also, larger web applications usually involve a team of developers, no longer a lone-coder whipping a site together. In which case writing quality code is not just practical, but is also part of being a good team member.