Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction

Steve McConnell

Tags:

software development

software engineering

computer science

Testing by itself does not improve software quality. Test results are an indicator of quality, but in and of themselves, they don't improve it. Trying to improve software quality by increasing the amount of testing is like trying to lose weight by weighing yourself more often.

The source code is often the only accurate description of the software. On many projects, the only documentation available to programmers is the code itself. Requirements specifications and design documents can go out of date, but the source code is always up to date.