Paul Graham's quote in "Design Patterns" section actually says nothing or the opposite of what the author is trying to say - Paul says that when he's seeing in

Paul Graham's quote in "Design Patterns" section actually says nothing or the opposite of what the author is trying to say - Paul says that when he's seeing in the code things (shapes <<of code>>) that repeat themselves, it's an indication to him that he's missing some macro definition that would build this shape for him so he doesn't need to repeat himself by manually creating it all the time - that he can reuse it (as macro). How does it relate to design patterns? Does it say not to use them? Absolutely not. It says the opposite, if anything - to recognise patterns in your code. "Design patterns" is just an idea that if you see your patterns repeating themselves (some of your macros tend to be very similar in different projects) then you should give it a name. This way when you explain system to your colleagues it's easier to communicate.