Steve McConnell is one of my favorite writers. He writes in an interesting and easy to follow way. There is only a few (that I know of) in the software industry that do it as good as him. This book is a general overview of the whole software industry. It’s general, but contains some good advice. The chapter on Construx’s professional ladder is very good (you can find it on the web, though). Overall, a good book. Not a required reading, but you’ll enjoy it.