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Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship
By: Robert C. Martin
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Pub. Date: August 01, 2008
Print ISBN-10: 0-13-235088-2
Print ISBN-13: 978-0-13-235088-4
Web ISBN-10: 0-13-608323-4
Web ISBN-13: 978-0-13-608323-8
Pages in Print Edition: 464
Subscriber Rating:
[75 Ratings] Subscriber Reviews
Overview
Even bad code can function. But if code isn’t clean, it
can bring a development organization to its knees. Every year,
countless hours and significant resources are lost because of
poorly written code. But it doesn’t have to be that
way.
Noted software expert Robert C. Martin presents a revolutionary
paradigm with Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software
Craftsmanship. Martin has teamed up with his colleagues
from Object Mentor to distill their best agile practice of cleaning
code “on the fly” into a book that will instill within
you the values of a software craftsman and make you a better
programmer—but only if you work at it.
What kind of work will you be doing? You’ll be reading
code—lots of code. And you will be challenged to think about
what’s right about that code, and what’s wrong with it.
More importantly, you will be challenged to reassess your
professional values and your commitment to your craft.
Clean Code is divided into three parts. The first
describes the principles, patterns, and practices of writing clean
code. The second part consists of several case studies of
increasing complexity. Each case study is an exercise in cleaning
up code—of transforming a code base that has some problems
into one that is sound and efficient. The third part is the payoff:
a single chapter containing a list of heuristics and
“smells” gathered while creating the case studies. The
result is a knowledge base that describes the way we think when we
write, read, and clean code.
Readers will come away from this book understanding
How to tell the difference between good and bad code
How to write good code and how to transform bad code into good code
How to create good names, good functions, good objects, and good classes
How to format code for maximum readability
How to implement complete error handling without obscuring code logic
How to unit test and practice test-driven development
This book is a must for any developer, software engineer,
project manager, team lead, or systems analyst with an interest in
producing better code.
Subscriber Reviews
Average Rating: 
Based on 75 Ratings
"Good book with lots of useful tips" - by Gwyn on 06-MAR-2013
Reviewer Rating: 
There was quite a lot of use in this book but I was a little put off by the amount of material which was of little relevance to what I do - it felt very geared towards Java developers (I read the majority of this book but, for this reason, skimmed/skipped about 25% which was of little relevance to my goals). That said, there were certainly a good number of useful lessons contained which I will take forward.
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"good for junior to mid level developers" - by abdsahin on 05-FEB-2013
Reviewer Rating:
i expected more non-trivial cases covered, however most topics are merely around coding sugggestions which can help junior to mid level developers.
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"(null)" - by (null) on 30-OCT-2012
Reviewer Rating:
While some of the content of this book is good advice, I feel at least 50% of the book is just plain bad advice that results in hard to maintain code.
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"Pay your technical debt as you code and beam with confidence when you look at your elegant sustainable code" - by Peter Kahn on 19-AUG-2012
Reviewer Rating:
Just as the summit marks the halfway point in your climb of Everest, working code marks the halfway point to "done." Call it done when you transform your working code into elegant sustainable tools which you and your team can leverage.
This book changed my approach to coding be it simple scripts, applications or build systems (I'm a release engineer, best job ever). The book couples excellent advice with real world examples that drive the point home. There's a section where the author takes readers step by step through a refactoring which cemented many techniques for me.
A very worthy read.
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"Excellent book that covers alot very well" - by Christian M on 04-JUL-2012
Reviewer Rating:
I really liked this book as it teaches the grand scheme of things as well as the small details that makes a difference. It is very throughout with a great summary at the end. It also has alot of examples.
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Top Level Categories:
Information Technology & Software Development
Sub-Categories:
Information Technology & Software Development > Software Engineering & Development
Software Engineering & Development > Agile Development
