Read The Pragmatic Programmer

What was the inspiration for me to start "256 Tips"? This book.

Some books teach you algorithms, others teach programming language syntax. This book teaches you what it means to be a programmer. The meaning, the philosophy of being a programmer is the foundation of everything else.

I read The Pragmatic Programmer way too late in my career -- I wish I'd read it 20 years earlier.

Certain things that the book recommends, I was doing intuitively -- I realized that I was actually following the advice to learn a new programming language every year!

Other things -- I was not doing right for way too long (I really hope you'll never see my old code with zero tests!)

There are books that you could read, other books you should read. This is the one that you must read if you're a programmer.