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Code Reading ( ISBN 0-201-79940-5) is a 2003 software development book written by Diomidis Spinellis. The book is directed to programmers who want to improve their code reading abilities. It discusses specific techniques for reading code written by others and outlines common programming concepts.
The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.
Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, documenting, testing, and bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applications, frameworks, or other software components. Software development is a process of writing and maintaining the source code, but in a broader sense, it includes all that is involved between the conception of the desired software through to the final manifestation of the software, sometimes in a planned and structured process. Therefore, software development may include research, new development, prototyping, modification, reuse, re-engineering, maintenance, or any other activities that result in software products.
The code examples used in the book are taken from real-life software, many of them coming from the export-19980407 NetBSD snapshot. Although the programming language of choice is claimed to be balanced, the use of C to illustrate basic concepts predominates. Excerpts from important open-source code systems like the Apache Web server, the hsqldb Java relational database engine, the NetBSD Unix distribution, the Perl language, the Tomcat application server, and the X Window System are presented.
NetBSD is a free and open-source Unix-like operating system based on the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). It was the first open-source BSD descendant officially released after 386BSD was forked. It continues to be actively developed and is available for many platforms, including servers, desktops, handheld devices, and embedded systems.
C is a general-purpose, imperative computer programming language, supporting structured programming, lexical variable scope and recursion, while a static type system prevents many unintended operations. By design, C provides constructs that map efficiently to typical machine instructions, and it has therefore found lasting use in applications that were previously coded in assembly language. Such applications include operating systems, as well as various application software for computers ranging from supercomputers to embedded systems.
Open-source software (OSS) is a type of computer software in which source code is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to study, change, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose. Open-source software may be developed in a collaborative public manner. Open-source software is a prominent example of open collaboration.
The book covers most concepts related to code that are likely to appear before a software developer's eyes, including programming constructs, data types, data structures, control flow, project organization, coding standards, documentation, and architectures. A compact disc with 16 million lines of open-source code, accompanying the book, provides the context for all the presented examples. The end chapters may be the ones of most use to advanced users, as the initial chapters delve into programming language constructs, regular expressions, etc.
Computer programming is the process of designing and building an executable computer program for accomplishing a specific computing task. Programming involves tasks such as: analysis, generating algorithms, profiling algorithms' accuracy and resource consumption, and the implementation of algorithms in a chosen programming language. The source code of a program is written in one or more languages. The purpose of programming is to find a sequence of instructions that will automate the performance of a task on a computer, often for solving a given problem. The process of programming thus often requires expertise in several different subjects, including knowledge of the application domain, specialized algorithms, and formal logic.
In computer science and computer programming, a data type or simply type is an attribute of data which tells the compiler or interpreter how the programmer intends to use the data. Most programming languages support common data types of real, integer and boolean. A data type constrains the values that an expression, such as a variable or a function, might take. This data type defines the operations that can be done on the data, the meaning of the data, and the way values of that type can be stored. A type of value from which an expression may take its value.
In computer science, a data structure is a data organization, management and storage format that enables efficient access and modification. More precisely, a data structure is a collection of data values, the relationships among them, and the functions or operations that can be applied to the data.
The book inaugurated Addison-Wesley's Effective Software Development Series, edited by Scott Meyers, and received the 2004 Software Development Productivity Award in the “Technical Books” category. It has been translated into Chinese, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Polish, and Russian.
Addison-Wesley is a publisher of textbooks and computer literature. It is an imprint of Pearson PLC, a global publishing and education company. In addition to publishing books, Addison-Wesley also distributes its technical titles through the Safari Books Online e-reference service. Addison-Wesley's majority of sales derive from the United States (55%) and Europe (22%).
Scott Douglas Meyers is an American author and software consultant, specializing in the C++ computer programming language. He is known for his Effective C++ book series. During his career, he was a frequent speaker at conferences and trade shows.
