Chris Zimmerman - The Rules of Programming: How to Write Better Code

by Chris Zimmerman

Copyright 2023 Chris Zimmerman. All rights reserved.

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978-1-098-13311-5

[LSI]

Welcome to The Rules of Programming, a set of easy-to-remember and easy-to-apply Rules that will help you write better code. Programming is hard, but following the Rules makes it a little bit easier.

Here are some tips on reading the book:

• All of the Rules stand on their own. If you see an interesting-looking Rule in the table of contents and want to jump straight into the middle of the book, feel free. That reading pattern is fully supported.

• That said, Id suggest starting off with . Its a good setup for the rest of the Rules.

• The examples in the book are all written in C++. If youre a Python or JavaScript programmer, youll be happier if you read .

• If youre a C++ programmer, note that Ive simplified a few things in the code examples to make them easier to read for non-C++ programmers. For example, the examples use signed integers in a few places where unsigned integers would be more typical for a C++ program, and I disabled warnings about implicit conversion between signed and unsigned values. I also compiled the examples with an implicit using std to avoid a boatload of distracting std:: references.

• And finally, Im capitalizing Rule when I refer to an actual Rule in the book. If you see rule, its just a regular old rule, not an officially sanctioned one. The distinction between the two senses of the word was confusing without the capitalization; I hope that excuses me.

I hope you enjoy what follows! I think youll discover a few useful thoughts that help you sharpen your programming skills.