C++ developer. Technical Lead. University of Portland alum. (BSEE '85).
As I have moved from smaller deeply embedded systems into large-ish Windows NT application development I have become interested in the expertise encoded in well thought-out patterns. I am teaching my development team some of the GoF patterns that we actually used in our app over the last 5 years. (deliberately and inadvertantly, well and poorly. Never make your Facades Mediators.)
I also found the Alexander material wonderful for understanding why 99% of the houses I looked at were insipid while house-hunting a couple of years ago. It gave me the tools for understanding with a high level of confidence why a gross cosmetic fixer would turn out to be a house I love.