Quick StartMost PopularNew StuffPeopleTagsAbout Us

Pair Programming

Rate this:
By teqqles (Contact - View My Woyano)
Published Sat 10 Feb 2007, 391 Views, 3 Comments

The concept of pair programming seems a reasonable one, sharing knowledge, idea's and helping each other through the course of the day is a prospect that few could argue against. But what of the shy, retiring developer who finds himself forced to work with one stranger after the next? Unable to work at his or her best because of the nagging want to flee the scene baked by someone of higher management being able to glean a small amount of knowledge from a magazine, deciding that the three or four lines of text they have read are "scientifically proven fact" and set about causing disarray to dilbertesque proportions!

I have no doubt that pair programming has a place in the world of development and it certainly does help (for everyone has a different approach and the merging of minds should inherently lead to better software), but it needs to be used wisely and not thrown at the reclusive developer by a pointy haired boss :)


This Item
Category: Blogs, teqqles
Tags: development,programming,xp,agile
Contributor
teqqles
Share it
Link to this item:
Bookmark this item: RSS Feed

People who liked this item

    3 Comments

  1.  
    JV ~ 22 months ago
    0 votes thumbs up thumbs down
    We have found there is a time and a place for paired programming... it's probably not in a startup that needs to get features out a.s.a.p.

    So what we do instead, is use VNC and log in and out of eachothers desktops when we want help with a code design decision or problem.

    So I guess we probably spend about 1 hour in 7 pair programming - the rest of the time we go solo.

    Even so, the principle is great - and in my old job it was more like 90% of the time - but that was corporate and they could afford to go slower....
    [ reply ]
    1.  
      teqqles ~ 22 months ago
      0 votes thumbs up thumbs down
      A wise implementation indeed, I should imagine that strikes a natural balance between knowledge sharing, issue resolution and swift development?
      [ reply ]
    2.  
      Big Al ~ 22 months ago
      0 votes thumbs up thumbs down
      Pair programming certainly has its strengths but it is just one of many tools in the toolbox of a development team. You have to know when and how to use it. Often choosing a pair whose strengths complement each other in regard to the job at hand.

      It can be slower to start with but the code is definitely better. There's nothing quite like having someone else there to point out potential pitfalls of the direction you're heading in! It also helps that two people know a part of the system intimately and allows for flexibility when (inevitably) maintenance/refactoring needs doing.
      [ reply ]
      1.  
        AdGuy
        22 votes thumbs up thumbs down
        This is my two cents...

           
        Hey you know AdGuy always gets the last word! ;)

      Please Login to Add Your Comment   ..or..  

      Replying to comment by