Patterns are not the only way of formalizing metaprogramming concepts. Patterns address specific problems, but sometimes we would like to express ideas that are not problem specific. Such formalizations are called principles. If they are related to program design, we call them, quite obviously, design principles.
Principles provide a view of a problem that is complementary to patterns. They don't give specific instructions on how to solve problems but rather instruct us how to write good code. A good programmer should, therefore, know both design patterns and design principles by heart. An excellent programmer, of course, also knows when to use patterns and principles and when to ignore them, but that's another story. You can only get such a level of knowledge by practicing programming for a long time.
Still, everyone has to start somewhere, and at...
