I am often surprised (actually horrified!) to find programmers/developers that have not even heard of Code Complete (by Steve McConnell), let alone read it. If you are a programmer who has not read Code Complete then you should. It should be a required book for all university computer science courses, purchased on day one and lovingly cherished during the course of your studies! Recently, a programmer surprised me even more by belittling it without even having read it (you know who you are). Shame on you!
Every time I pick up ‘Code Complete’ I learn something from it. I am not exaggerating. I’ve owned a copy of this book for a little over 10 years (now in its second edition), and I learn something useful every time I pick it up. I could perhaps say that of only a handful of books. It might be something I’ve forgotten to pay sufficient attention to rather than something earth shatteringly new, but nonetheless I learn something. Don’t take my word for it, do a few searches yourself and look at the accolades, praise and comments by respected practioners.
Actually, now I think about it, I’m not really a Code Complete zealot, just someone who hates reinventing the wheel, especially square shaped ones…