I've been on a similar journey, and I've seen this pattern repeat itself again and again!
1. Hack any old shit together, but it works
2. When you actually have to maintain what you previously wrote, you realise (1) doesn't work so well. Then design patterns seem like an epiphany, and you Cargo-cult the shit out of them, using them everywhere. You dogmatically eliminate all code duplicatation, use mocks with wild abandon, and are not happy unless you have 100% test coverage. For bonus points, you also overuse abstraction. A lot.
3. When you actually have to maintain anything you previously wrote, you realise what a tangled mess of abstraction you have made - you can't simply open a file and ascertain what it's doing! You also realise that the tests you wrote to achieve 100% coverage are crap, and don't really prove anything works. You finally reach a zen-like state, realising that simplicity is key. You shun all forms of dogma, and use patterns and abstraction, but only just enough
1. Hack any old shit together, but it works
2. When you actually have to maintain what you previously wrote, you realise (1) doesn't work so well. Then design patterns seem like an epiphany, and you Cargo-cult the shit out of them, using them everywhere. You dogmatically eliminate all code duplicatation, use mocks with wild abandon, and are not happy unless you have 100% test coverage. For bonus points, you also overuse abstraction. A lot.
3. When you actually have to maintain anything you previously wrote, you realise what a tangled mess of abstraction you have made - you can't simply open a file and ascertain what it's doing! You also realise that the tests you wrote to achieve 100% coverage are crap, and don't really prove anything works. You finally reach a zen-like state, realising that simplicity is key. You shun all forms of dogma, and use patterns and abstraction, but only just enough