What distinguishes the law code of hammurabi from its predecessors

Hammurabi's law code was the most complete set of laws that had been put together in the ancient world.
Babylonian king Hammurabi ruled from 1792 to to 1750 BC.  The law code developed under his reign contained 282 rules, framed as examples or what we might call legal precedents.  "If a person does this, then the punishment or penalty will be that."  The code was carved into a black stone pillar that was discovered in the modern era in 1901.