>- design patterns --- in fact, I might argue that you're better off not reading about design patterns, which are kind of an architectural blind alley,

I have to disagree with this one. People who don't know design patterns are doomed to reinvent them anyways... badly. Even worse, without a common language to describe code structure, communication with team members is harder than it needs to be. Design patterns often get a bad rap because some people get really excited when they learn them and they try to use them inappropriately. But the correct usage of design patterns is the difference between inexperienced devs and experienced devs.