[kidmenot]

Not the user you replied to but, according to my experience, Code Complete is useful in that, as many other well-written books, it gives advice that comes from common sense and gives it a name. Much like Martin Fowler did with Refactoring, after all: breaking down long methods into smaller, well-named ones is common sense, but calling it Extract Method gives everybody a handle to use for further research.

Saying that whoever recommends Code Complete made some wrong life choices is a bit rude and uncalled for. Books are just tools, the benefits they bring depend on whether the reader goes through them in a smart way or not.

Then again, but this is a matter of taste, I would suggest The Pragmatic Programmer as a first read. It's shorter, well-written and with laser-like focus on the topic at hand.

Lastly, since designing and writing software is as much of an art as it is science, what's really important is to avoid reading passively and blindly applying anything the knowledge one finds in a book, and instead strive to understand why, and going against the grain and see why certain practices are called "best".