Kernighan and Plauger's _The Elements of Programming Style_ covers exactly this ground, showing in turn poor code and how it could be better. They use real-lif

Kernighan and Plauger's _The Elements of Programming Style_ covers exactly this ground, showing in turn poor code and how it could be better. They use real-life bits of code they come across, not artificial constructions. Kernighan and Pike's later _The Practice of Programming_ also partially covers this. Both are must-reads. http://troff.org/pubs.html#style http://troff.org/pubs.html#style and http://troff.org/pubs.html#tpop http://troff.org/pubs.html#tpop