The Rules of Programming: How to Write Better Code

This philosophy-of-programming guide provides a unique take on how to think about programming. With a collection of two dozen pragmatic rules, each presented in a standalone chapter, this hands-on book is ideal for freshly minted programmers making the jump from small programming jobs to large-scale projects and long time frame work.

Author Chris Zimmerman, cofounder of the video game studio Sucker Punch Productions, teaches basic truths of programming by wrapping them in memorable aphorisms and driving them home with examples drawn from real code. This practical guide also helps managers who are searching for methods to train new members of their programming team.

The rules in this book include:

Simpler is always better
Let your code tell its own story
Localize complexity
Generalization takes three examples
Big projects need simple designs
Code that isn’t running doesn’t work
If something doesn’t work, it’s your fault
Work backwards from your result, not forward from your code
Some tools should be left in the toolbox
Not every problem lends itself to an elegant solution