Pair Programming (PP) is one of the XP practices. Many modern software development companies use it in daily activities. On the other side in many places PP is treated as a waste of resources because the same result could be achieved with half of the effort. Software developers also have mixed feelings about this methodology, including me.
I strongly believe that software engineers need time for design, collaboration and learning. Depending on the individual (or organisation approach) PP can be applied in various combinations. The key to having a meaningful and efficient software development is in find out what works for you.
Recently I had quite a few situations where PP was extremely useful. That included:
- sharing the knowledge
- learning others by diving examples
- programming instead of writing tech specs (acting as a proxy)
In all of those cases, PP cable up as a first choice, without any policies enforcements or procedures. We just felt this is the right approach to the problem.
For me a good PP session has the following attributes:
Good Pair Programming session attributes:
- timeframe
- clear goal/objective
- treating each other with respect
- politeness
- quiet workspace (no co-work or open-space)
The benefits
- sharing knowledge - the more experiences developer can explain the codebase and the project
- generating ideas - discussion can lead to new options
- co-piloting - the non-keyboard dev can be looking up API info or preparing assets which keep the keyboard dev cruising along without interruption
- teaching - more than just knowledge-share on a project (which is important), pair programming lets junior programmers learn from more experienced programmers - or each other
- communication training - each of the engineers has to explain verbally what he/she means
The downsides
Apart from pros, PP has also some cons. Here they are:
- can be exahausting
- requires team members synchronisation
- requires fairly good communication skills and vocabulary
My advice is to apply PP when possible, but not all the time. PP should not be forced because it can scare others.