My experience with design patterns has been that their usage can prevent people from considering the deeper issue of what it means for a design to be good. I wo

My experience with design patterns has been that their usage can prevent people from considering the deeper issue of what it means for a design to be good. I would far rather work with programmers that have a good grasp of the five SOLID principles, for instance. This is not to say that specific patterns are not of merit in the right circumstances, of course. Just that the notion of design patterns as some kind of shrink-wrapped, off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-all solution is something I find mildly alarming.