Software quality matters. Software runs our banking operations, air traffic control, stock markets, global navigation, personal information privacy, and many other facets of our lives. Good software helps all of these things run smoothly; bad software has the potential to hurt or even kill people.
But what, exactly, distinguishes good software from bad software? Expert programmers know good software when they see it, and they are likely to produce it themselves. What do they see in the better software that makes it better? And how do they write it? Are there universal principles of good...