Bruce Eckel's Java Programming Guidelines. Elegance always pays off. In the short term it might seem like it takes much longer to come up with a truly graceful solution to a problem but when it works the first time and easily adapts to new situations instead of requiring hours days or months of struggle youll see the rewards (even if no one can measure them). Not only does it give you a program thats easier to build and debug but its also easier to understand and maintain and thats where the financial value lies. This point can take some experience to understand because it can appear that youre not being productive while youre making a piece of code elegant. Resist the urge to hurry; it will only slow you down.
Great advice, not necessarily only for Java programmers. [PHP Everywhere]