Software projects fail for one of two general reasons: the project team lacks the knowledge to conduct a software project successfully, or the project team lacks the resolve to conduct a project effectively.

The default movement on a software project should be in the direction of taking elements of the software away to make it simpler rather than adding elements to make it more complex.

Good code is its own best documentation. As you're about to add a comment, ask yourself, "How can I improve the code so that this comment isn't needed?" Improve the code and then document it to make it even clearer.

A brute force solution that works is better than an elegant solution that doesn't work.

A typical software project can present more opportunities to learn from mistakes than some people get in a lifetime.

Good visual layout shows the logical structure of a program.

It's OK to figure out murder mysteries, but you shouldn't need to figure out code. You should be able to read it.