I think it really depends on when you read it. Code Complete was in the first handful of books I read about the practice of programming, apart from language-sp

I think it really depends on when you read it. Code Complete was in the first handful of books I read about the practice of programming, apart from language-specific books, and I loved it. Years later I bought the second edition, having given away my first copy, but the magic was gone. I didn't get much out of The Pragmatic Programmer myself. Maybe if I'd read it ten years earlier, it would have been my Code Complete.