I bought this on a friend's recommendation, but expected yet another book rehashing the same standard rules: write comments, don't duplicate code, have plans for your projects, eat your vegetables.

Hunt and Thomas vastly exceeded my expectations. This book is never dry, often humorous, and always educational. They don't always say what you expect them to say (e.g., about commenting code), and I didn't always agree with them, but every sentence is full of thoughtful analysis.

One of the best features is their incredibly practical advice -- while yes, this book does teach philosophy and encourages thought, it also provides many immediately-implementable suggestions.

If you aren't a programmer with 10 years experience, buy it anyway -- it is not just for experienced programmers. While you will absorb less of the book, there is still enough to learn, and it's a great book to keep and re-read.

The book includes a pull-out card of the pithy sayings the authors use to sum up each section. Perhaps my mind just doesn't work the way theirs does, but I didn't find their summations to be helpful all the time -- I found myself frequently having to flip back to the section to remember what a particular phrase meant. But it's still useful.