Good to see your reading some "must-read" software books.

I've recently picked up that habit. Right now I'm working on Code Complete 2nd Edition. I've got Pragmatic Programmer, and its next on my list.

I'm enjoying it thouroughly, and I've already started implementing some of the advice. However, a lot of the advice I'd learned from sources outside the book (who had all probably read and refer to the book).

If I remember correctly, it was supposed to be a sort-of "compilation" of knowledge learned from top-notch professional programmers, as well as people in the academic world.

The main benefit though, is he goes more into detail that other sources explaining quite well the underlying principles of where we get a lot of these derived principles we follow. It helps understand and motivate, and I'm only about 150 pages into it (seems like a little less than a quarter of the book from memory, but I don't have it with me for reference).

From what I've read of it, I'd certainly recommend it (as if the many others who do so aren't enough!)