Someone once told me that the value of the GOF book was that it provides a common vocabulary for shared ideas. I believe that now. That's what (and maybe all) i

Someone once told me that the value of the GOF book was that it provides a common vocabulary for shared ideas. I believe that now. That's what (and maybe all) it's good for in my mind. The problem with using it to impart a method of thinking in my mind is that the way of thinking (and the patterns themselves) really have to be earned. I think it's possible for a book to do a fair job at imparting that wisdom, but GOF is setup terribly for it. It's sort of like picking up a recipe book full of classical french dishes without learning about french cooking first. It's too easy to misunderstand the specific values and compromises of specific 'ingredients' and undo the benefit the pattern could provide altogether. I've wondered before if GOF could be rethunk with Refactoring in mind. Starting with code smells is exactly right. The book should focus more on identifying problems with an approach, because that's the hard part. Solutions are much easier.