Comment by valbaca

Here's my rant on Code Complete and Clean Code:

I find that these two books are in many recommended lists, but I found them entirely unforgettable, entirely too long, and without any "meat."

So much of the advice given is trivial things you'll just figure out in the first few months of coding professionally. Code for more than a week and you'll figure out how to name classes, how to use variables, how scope works, etc. The code examples are only in C++, Java, and Visual Basic (ha!). Completely ignoring non-OO and dynamic languages. Some of the advice is just bad (like prefixing global variables with g_) or incredibly outdated (like, "avoid goto"? Thanks 1968!).

Work on a single software project, or any problem ever, and you'll know that you need to define the problem first. It's not exactly sage advice.

These are cherry-picked examples, but overall Code Complete manages to be too large, go into too specific detail in some areas, while giving vague advice in others.

All books are written in a time and a few become timeless. Software books have an especially short half-life. I think Code Complete was a book Software Engineering needed in 2004, but has since dropped in value.

I will say, that Code Complete does have utility as a way to prop up your monitor for increased ergonomics, which is something you should never ignore.

I have similar issues with Clean Code. One is better off just googling "SOLID Principles" and then just programming using small interfaces more often and use fewer subclasses.

A better alternative is (from above) The Pragmatic Programmer (2019), a good style guide, and/or get your code reviewed by literally anyone.