[richardlblair]

This person sounds super jaded. Like they didn't get a job because they didn't know about some pattern they were asked about.

The thing about the GOF book is that it gives you a great foundation for designing great software. No, they aren't the only patterns out there, but you are going to find at least some of them in any well designed system. You will also see a lot of code that is clearly based on a GOF pattern, but evolved from that to solve a specific problem.

For instance, you can't get a web job these days without being familiar with MVC. And really, you should know what component modern day web frameworks are missing (an observer). You will probably use some rendition of the chain of command at some point in your career. Then you have the proxy pattern, bridge pattern, adapter pattern which are all popular as well.

So sure, hate on GOF. But you're completely missing something if you do, and expressing such distaste for it makes you look bad (imo). GOF doesn't take away the creative aspect of programming, it actually facilitates it by giving you a solid foundation of which to work. So while some will perform a piece of sheet music, others will use the sheet music as inspiration to create something new and beautiful.

[azeirah]

What I got from the article is that these patterns are guidelines, not paths carved out of stone that you have to follow. How he presents it is irrelevant to what he's trying to convey.