A datasheet is not written to be read start to finish, and it is not written for you specifically. It's written for a hundred different use cases at once, which means the section that matters most for your design is buried the same way it's buried for everyone else's. You have to know where to dig.
Absolute maximums are not targets
The absolute maximum ratings table tells you where the part dies, not where it works well. Engineers new to hardware sometimes read '6V max' and design for 5.9V. That number usually comes with no guarantee of performance anywhere near it. It's the edge of the cliff, not a design point. Design against the recommended operating conditions table instead, and treat the absolute max as a hard stop you should never approach in normal operation.
Then check whether that maximum is rated at 25°C or across the full temperature range. A part that survives 6V at room temperature might not survive it at 85°C, and the datasheet will tell you, several tables later, in a footnote.
The graphs matter more than the numbers
Typical characteristics graphs (output current versus temperature, quiescent current versus supply voltage) are where a datasheet tells the truth about a part's real behavior. A single number in a table is a snapshot; a curve tells you how a part degrades, and degradation is usually where your design margin actually lives.
None of this replaces testing your own board. But reading a datasheet properly, once, before you commit a footprint to a layout, is the cheapest debugging session you'll ever run, because it happens before anything gets built.