Comments on: Pair Programming: So you don’t want to do it…

By: Pair Programming: The disadvantages of 100% pairing at Mark Needham

Pair Programming: The disadvantages of 100% pairing at Mark Needham — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 23:35:59 +0000

[...] useful as a coaching tool, as I’ve mentioned before I think it’s a very useful for increasing the amount of collaboration between team members and an excellent way for ensuring that knowledge of the code base is spread across the [...]

By: Dev Blog AF83 » Blog Archive » Veille technologique : Microsoft, Organisation, Ruby, Rails, PHP, Langages, Sécurité

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:20:34 +0000

[...] http://www.markhneedham.com/blog/2009/06/08/pair-programming-so-you-dont-want-to-do-it/ : un article qui met en avant les intérêts du Pair Programming [...]

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:50:26 +0000

I work in a very small team, that used to consist of 2 developers (including myself) and a team lead (also developer but has a lot of extra responsibilities). At that time I was pairing a lot with the other developer and found it very beneficial. Unfortunately, one day the other developer left the team, leaving only me and the team lead. I found that pairing was not feasible anymore, mainly because the team needed to be able to focus on more than one thing at a time, and its disruptive to pair with someone who has to go to lots of meetings everyday.

By: Harry

Harry — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:38:54 +0000

Totally agree with Erik.
Pair programming, like many other things in XP, is something that you have to try it to see its benefit. The good thing of pair programming is – it has lower technical learning curve to start, compared to TDD. The difficult part is to persuade those who sit in the corner offices. …

By: Jamie Phillips

Jamie Phillips — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:14:33 +0000

Although I have not practiced “formal” pair programming (i.e. as part of a formalized process); the times that I have had impromptu sessions have been very rewarding from a technical point of view and from a shared knowledge point of view. On the occasions that I have been located in an open plan office or cubicle farm it has helped a lot to book a meeting room and “disappear” for a few hours – that way you ensure that you and your pair can work in isolation “off the grid” and therefore reach the nirvana so sought after by mere mortals.

By: Erik Wynne Stepp

Erik Wynne Stepp — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:16:51 +0000

I had never done formal pairing until recently. I was always open to it, but it was not part of the culture in most companies that I had worked for. I was also a little skeptical like Raimonds that it might be difficult to get into “the zone” with all that noise going on.

A few months ago I had the opportunity to do formal pairing on a project, and I found that in actuality, it is much easier to get into “the zone” when you have someone there with you to help you focus.

While pairing, I found that my productivity increased and I was in “the zone” for the entire time while working with my pair.

Perhaps those who have not paired should try it for a week or a month and then decide whether or not this will help them achieve their highest productivity.

By: Raimonds

Raimonds — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 08:57:45 +0000

If you are discussing with your pair all the time and if all the time somebody is shouting in the room asking for help then programmers are being disturbed all the time and it is very hard to get into “the flow” to get the highest productivity level.

Therefore I don’t agree that pair programming is better in all aspects compared to programming in silence in private office. I prefer to have both private time and then from time to time to discuss and review code with collegues.