>Fun part is there is no “better” in generic terms.

No. It goes further then this. We actually don't even know if one is better or not.

There is no formal theory that allows us to prove these designs. For example we have formal theory behind algorithm complexity that quantifies runtime cost but no such theory exists for engineering design patterns. We aren't even sure what to quantify.

But just because a formal theory doesn't yet exist doesn't mean one can be developed in the future. Until then these system designs will be like history... Always repeating itself.