I would start with "The Pragmatic Programmer". It's how I became a "professional" programmer. "Code Complete" is a book on construction. I dip into it when m

I would start with "The Pragmatic Programmer". It's how I became a "professional" programmer. "Code Complete" is a book on construction. I dip into it when my IF statement has too many conditionals in the test. That sort of thing. I'd also recommend "The Career Programmer": The only book I've seen that deals with a realistic view of programming in a corporate environment. For example, what to do when your boss stops you in the hall and asks, "We need a tool to do X. How soon can you get that done?" It's subtitled "Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World", which is _just_ what you need to break free of the fantasy land that books and classes put you in. (APress publishes this.) And don't be fooled by the title: "My Job Went to India And All I Got Was This Lousy Shirt". It's the distilled experience of a programmer who spent a year (or two?) in India when his company outsourced code, and sent him to manage the new group. There are some really important tactics inside, like the chapter on "reading the boss's mind". You don't really, of course, but it explains how to capitalize on "wouldn't it be nice if we..." throw-away comments in meetings. (Pragmatic Programmers publish(ed) this one.) Oh, and don't be shy about using the Internet Archive to sample all the books recommended in this thread. I haven't seen any bad recommendations, but you don't want to spend more money or read more pages than necessary. The IA will help you decide which books answer your needs the best. Good luck!