For example, in the OO world you hear a good deal about “patterns.” I wonder if these patterns are not sometimes evidence of case (c), the human compiler, at work.8 When I see patterns in my programs, I consider it a sign of trouble. The shape of a program should reflect only the problem it needs to solve. Any other regularity in the code is a sign, to me at least, that I’m using abstractions that aren’t powerful enough — often that I’m generating by hand the expansions of some macro that I need to write.
Paul graham vs patterns
