Mickey Williamson provides an in-depth overview of software engineering in the CIO magazine article, "Software Development" (www.cio.com/archive/041596_devenpor_content.html). You might pay particular attention to the last page, which lists the habits of highly effective developers. The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University publishes research results and guidelines about effective software development. The SEI Web site at www.sei.cmu.edu is definitely worth a visit. Similar activities take place at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) at sel.gsfc.nasa.gov.

One of the most practical books about programming is Steve McConnell's Code Complete (Microsoft Press, 1993). It is full of practical tips that will help you complete your programming projects on time, within budget, and with minimal bugs. You'll find a series of software development checklists excerpted from Steve's book at the Construx Software Builder's site (www.construx.com/chk.htm). The Programmer's Vault Web site (chesworth.com/pv) includes tutorials for programmers of various skill levels. At this site, you can learn the basic methods for programming computer games or delve into the technical world of matrix transformations. A terrific site for information on programming languages, programming tips, and job listings is www.itmweb.com.

Are you curious about the books that famous programmers have on their bookshelves? If so, scroll and link to Gregory Wilson's article, "Great Books," published in the Fall 1997 issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal (www.ddj.com/articles/1997/9719/9719toc.htm). Many programmers subscribe to Dr. Dobb's Journal, which must be one of the first computer magazines ever published (www.ddj.com). Another favorite is American Programmer, edited by the renowned Ed Yourdon (www.cutter.com/itjournal). The Microsoft Systems Journal (www.microsoft.com/msj) is a good source of information about systems development. Programmers' professional organizations include the International Programmer's Guild, which you can find online at www.ipgnet.com/ipghome.htm.