I'd echo that view, also with twenty years of (Unix) programming behind me. The start of the slippery slope seemed to be object-orientation; yes, it can be idea

I'd echo that view, also with twenty years of (Unix) programming behind me. The start of the slippery slope seemed to be object-orientation; yes, it can be ideal in some areas, helps re-use if done well, but since the majority of source is of average quality or worse it often seems to just add obfuscation, layers to wade through, contortions to fit the solution to the OO model the language provides, and poor names because so many need to be created that it becomes tedious. Contrast with Go's interfaces. Design patterns have also had an overall negative effect IMHO. Useful as a lingua franca for theoretical discussion they've again been over-adopted and the vocabulary has become so large, and sometimes imprecise, lessening their usefulness, that it sometimes seems like a geek version of the management-speak for which we criticise the pointy-haired. "Controlling complexity is the essence of computer programming" — Brian Kernighan. I often find the above add more complexity than they're worth.