Datasheets are dense, and the parts that bite you are rarely on page one. Here is the order to read them in.
Absolute maximum ≠ recommended operating
The single most misread table. Absolute maximum ratings are the values beyond which the part may be permanently damaged — they are not operating conditions, and nothing is guaranteed at them. What you design to is the recommended operating conditions table. Running continuously at an absolute max is a design error, not a clever margin.
Typ, min and max
Design to min/max, never to typ. "Typical" is the centre of a distribution at 25 °C with nothing else going on; it carries no guarantee. If a parameter only has a typ value, the manufacturer is telling you it is not tested — treat it as informative, not contractual. Note the test conditions beside every number (voltage, temperature, load): change them and the number changes.
The curves say more than the tables
Derating curves, safe-operating-area (SOA), efficiency vs load, and gain vs frequency tell you how the part behaves at your operating point rather than at the one convenient point in the table. A regulator rated "1 A" often means 1 A at 25 °C on a 4-layer board with a specified copper pour — the curve tells you what you actually get.
Read the footnotes and the package
The small print carries the traps: "guaranteed by design", minimum load requirements, required output capacitor ESR range, start-up sequencing. Then check the thermal data (θJA is board-dependent and often optimistic — see heat sink), the package land pattern, and the part's lifecycle status before you design it in.