In my attempt at brevity I fear I lost some context. I do however firmly stand by if you are not actively coding, you are not a programmer. What the exact timeline is, I will gladly leave up for debate, but it's not like riding a bicycle - you lose ability over time.
As for design patterns, I think we are in agreement (at least in principle) about their worth as a starting point. I am not at all saying that GoF (or any other design pattern text) should be followed. Rather, that anyone seriously considering themselves a programmer should have an understanding of the design patterns that are pertinent to their language/methodology, and hopefully their own opinions on which make sense or not.
I likely have too high of a standard for the term programmer, but feel it has been steadily lowered by this type of talk and wanted to at least try to move the bar back up.
If you have barely touched code in 6 months, you are not a programmer. Moreover, if you haven't bothered to learn design patterns, you probably never were.
As for design patterns, I think we are in agreement (at least in principle) about their worth as a starting point. I am not at all saying that GoF (or any other design pattern text) should be followed. Rather, that anyone seriously considering themselves a programmer should have an understanding of the design patterns that are pertinent to their language/methodology, and hopefully their own opinions on which make sense or not.
I likely have too high of a standard for the term programmer, but feel it has been steadily lowered by this type of talk and wanted to at least try to move the bar back up.