[alfiedotwtf]

If you're just starting out in your career, reading Code Complete is like gaining experience by osmosis. Then once you know what you're doing, Pragmatic Programmer is like a light refresher that you read once every few years.

[bdavisx]

Yes, I read the first edition many years ago - it was a huge benefit to my naive "bash the code out however I can" practices.

Now, when reading it, I'm kind of like "yes, that's good, except when..." So you learn to temper the rules with experience. But in the beginning of your software development journey, you need something to keep you in line.