[1][2][3][4][5] McConnell graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy, minoring in computer science,[6] at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and a master's degree in software engineering from Seattle University.
He then pursued a career in the desktop software industry, working at Microsoft, Boeing, the Russell Investment Group and several other Seattle area firms.
At Microsoft, McConnell worked on TrueType as part of Windows 3.1.
At Boeing, he worked on a Strategic Defense Initiative project.
[7] The New York Times has quoted McConnell stating that there are "15 to 50 defects per 1,000 lines of code in delivered software" on average.