I'm always curious when someone recommends reading The Elements of Programming Style. I had seen so many recommendations that one day I decided to dive into it

I'm always curious when someone recommends reading The Elements of Programming Style. I had seen so many recommendations that one day I decided to dive into it and read through it all myself. The book is a fine read and an interesting snapshot of what coding in 1974 was like. Seeing Kernighan and Plauger analysing and understanding coding issues and formulating early coding best practices is really interesting. However its value as a reference for modern day programmers is heavily overstated - you'll spend most of your time staring at big listings of early Fortran and PL/I code for one thing. So read it, enjoy it, smile when you see guidance that's still applicable today ... but do not expect to achieve any sort of enlightenment. And be wary if anyone who tells you otherwise.