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by Jay Fields.
Original Post: Pair Programming all the time
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I was having a discussion with a friend a few days ago about Pair Programming. I am, obviously, an advocate, but my friend doesn't believe in it.
Many people do not believe in Pair Programming (pairing). Most of those people don't agree with the benefits of pairing. However, my friend does believe that pairing is beneficial, he just does not believe in pairing all the time.
This is where semantics become very important. He was defining all the time as every minute that you are at work. I define all the time (in terms of pairing) as when I'm writing code that I'm going to commit.
There's plenty of time in the day that I spend on my own. Here's a few examples, but it's not representative of everything I do solo.
Read about a library that might help us later on.
Spike a new way to solve a complex problem.
Debug a tricky issue.
Each of the above tasks I often take on without a pair. Usually I end up asking for help while I'm working alone, or I ask for someone to review my conclusions, but I don't force myself to pair when I'm not sure what direction I'm headed in.
Patrick Kua talks about working in two different modes, Experimental and Focused, in the context of Test Driven Development. I agree with Patrick and I believe the discussion also directly applies to Pair Programming. When you know what you want to get done, pairing ensures that you do it well. But, when you don't know what you need to do, it's generally a pain to try to talk through the problem with your pair. Talking through a problem can be helpful, but I often like to get a decent understanding before trying to explain it to someone else. I also like to be able to stop going in one direction and immediately switch to another if I spot something interesting.
Pair programming is a good thing, but like all good things, it's best when done in moderation. There are times when you do not need to pair, and Wikipedia has a decent list of reasons that people are opposed to pair programming. But, those things should not discourage you from giving Pair Programming a fair shot.
Given the right set up and approach, I believe pairing is the most efficient way to deliver quality software.
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