[shubhamjain]

Most likely no! Do you really need to read a 900 page book to understand how to write good code? There might be nuggets of wisdom here and there, but you'll most likely pick them on your own as you code and grow. Problem with these books is that you tend to over-apply whatever you read. You read the fact that configurations are good, so you create a nest of abstractions to make code configurable, even when it doesn't make sense. This is the stuff that I have seen happen over and over again. Over-engineered crap resulting from programmers trying to make future-proof code.

The best way is still, reading and writing lots of code. You'll pick the right way quite naturally.

[blowski]

I agree that you don't need to have read it to be a good programmer. Yet, in my experience, there is a large overlap between those who are good programmers and those who have read it. With such a heavy use of anecdata, it's hard to say how much is causation or just correlation.

[000ooo000]

You have confused the book and its content with its application. One still needs to use their brain, and one blindly applying patterns from a book where it doesn't make sense doesn't make the book bad.

[jve]

Have you read the book?

I'm not done, but many ideas I got from the book made me a better programmer.

[jenscow]

I know what you mean, but that's not really the fault of a book.