Code Complete, 2nd Edition

Key Points

• The overarching goal of preparing for construction is risk reduction. Be sure your preparation activities are reducing risks, not increasing them.

• If you want to develop high-quality software, attention to quality must be part of the software-development process from the beginning to the end. Attention to quality at the beginning has a greater influence on product quality than attention at the end.

• Part of a programmer's job is to educate bosses and coworkers about the software-development process, including the importance of adequate preparation before programming begins.

• The kind of project you're working on significantly affects construction prerequisites—many projects should be highly iterative, and some should be more sequential. ...