4 ms·

> If you still feel uncomfortable having another person next to you while you write code, it might be because you aren’t particularly happy with your own code,

> If you still feel uncomfortable having another person next to you while you write code, it might be because you aren’t particularly happy with your own code, or the process that you follow in order to achieve some result. Or the process of constant all-day interaction with another person is just personally draining for you because you're introverted / have social anxiety, or because you have to juggle multiple responsibilities inside & outside of work and don't want the scheduling or social overhead to manage the back-and-forth, or for any of a plethora of reasons besides "something about your process is flawed". This sounds a lot like "if you have nothing to hide you don't need privacy" argument. Some people just hate pairing because it doesn't jibe with their personality or work style. Draft PRs + a culture of continuous reviews accomplishes much of this without taxing people who hate pairing.

gwn7 5y ago
> Or the process of constant all-day interaction with another person It doesn't have to be "constant" nor "all-day". The OP doesn't say anything like that. No straw mans please. > is just personally draining for you because you're introverted / have social anxiety I welcome different opinions on this but I personally think that this is something to be fixed, not to be accepted. I refuse to believe that introversion & social anxiety are unchangeable character traits (at least for most people). It is not ok to be introverted nor socially anxious. But if you to choose believe that it is, you won't be able to do anything about them. As a general rule of thumb the more extrovert a person is the higher possibility of their success in life because humans are social animals. This is known. (There are of course exceptions & outliers) > or because you have to juggle multiple responsibilities inside & outside of work and don't want the scheduling or social overhead to manage the back-and-forth Yeah, this is fair. If this is the kind of situation one is in, one probably shouldn't pair program unless the benefits clearly outweigh the costs. > or for any of a plethora of reasons besides "something about your process is flawed" I see your point but I think we also need to accept that the pair programming process of a lot of companies are indeed flawed. It may or may not always be the reason but it's not wise to outright dismiss it. > This sounds a lot like "if you have nothing to hide you don't need privacy" argument. Some people just hate pairing because it doesn't jibe with their personality or work style. I understand this. It is just that I don't want to work with that kind of people because I in fact think that it is not healthy. For me it is a red flag to lack the basic social skills such as sitting together in front of the computer and demonstrating part of your programming skills in a live manner. The only way I would accept to work with somebody like that would be if they were a 10x programmer of something like that. > Draft PRs + a culture of continuous reviews accomplishes much of this No, they don't. No process can ever have the bandwidth of face to face communication so it has some benefits that no other process can offer. In the end this is not a situation where we have to choose between PRs and pair programming. The article suggests that we can and should have both. The key thing is to find the right balance, as it always is. Note: I used to be the biggest introvert & socially anxious person.
- JediWing 5y ago
  > It is not ok to be introverted nor socially anxious. Social anxiety is a clinical diagnosis that needs to be handled and treated, I agree there. However, I strongly disagree that it's "not ok" to be an introvert, and in fact am mildly offended that you would suggest such. Some of the rest of your comment leads me to believe you don't actually know what introversion means. > ... I in fact think that it is not healthy. For me it is a red flag to lack the basic social skills such as sitting together in front of the computer and demonstrating part of your programming skills in a live manner. Introvert != "lack [...] basic social skills". Introverts are perfectly capable of pair programming, it's just a draining and over the long haul less productive way for them to work. > I used to be the biggest introvert & socially anxious person. And you changed from getting energy from time alone to getting energy from other people? I suppose this is possible, but in the same way that it's possible to tie a left-handed person's hand behind their back and force them to be right handed. > As a general rule of thumb the more extrovert a person is the higher possibility of their success in life because humans are social animals. This is known. Because society is structured as such, and we should try to question whether that's wise rather than encourage people to completely change a fundamental personality type because it's "the way it is". Introverts and introverted ways of doing business are valuable, but since they aren't the ones talking over others they often get left in the dust. This is something that efforts towards diversity focus on. They aren't all about race or gender, they are also about our ways of thinking and acting, and how all of these types should be welcome. > No process can ever have the bandwidth of face to face communication Even if I were to agree with this (not completely sure I do), they can certainly have a better signal/noise ratio. > I don't want to work with that kind of people In fairness, from what you've said, they probably do not want to work with you, so maybe this method of mutual self-selection is in everbody's best interest.
underbluewaters 5y ago
Programming is one of the few professions where one can be very successful as an introvert, working in a manner that is compatible with my personality type. I think it's great that there are other methodologies for people with different preferences but I hope pair programming doesn't start to be seen as a "best practice" that is forced on all teams without acknowledging these personality differences.
- CRConrad 5y ago
  In a way I think it is a "best practice": It's a pretty central part of "Extreme Programming", which was one of the early sparks that ignited the whole "Agile" movement. And from what little I've gotten to do it, it really is an effective way to code, so I'm all for it... But yeah, I'm probably pretty extrovert, so easy for me to say. I don't know how, exactly, but it seems to me finding some way to get this to work also for the more introvert among us should be a pretty high priority on the methodology front.

gwn7 5y ago

> Or the process of constant all-day interaction with another person It doesn't have to be "constant" nor "all-day". The OP doesn't say anything like that. No straw mans please. > is just personally draining for you because you're introverted / have social anxiety I welcome different opinions on this but I personally think that this is something to be fixed, not to be accepted. I refuse to believe that introversion & social anxiety are unchangeable character traits (at least for most people). It is not ok to be introverted nor socially anxious. But if you to choose believe that it is, you won't be able to do anything about them. As a general rule of thumb the more extrovert a person is the higher possibility of their success in life because humans are social animals. This is known. (There are of course exceptions & outliers) > or because you have to juggle multiple responsibilities inside & outside of work and don't want the scheduling or social overhead to manage the back-and-forth Yeah, this is fair. If this is the kind of situation one is in, one probably shouldn't pair program unless the benefits clearly outweigh the costs. > or for any of a plethora of reasons besides "something about your process is flawed" I see your point but I think we also need to accept that the pair programming process of a lot of companies are indeed flawed. It may or may not always be the reason but it's not wise to outright dismiss it. > This sounds a lot like "if you have nothing to hide you don't need privacy" argument. Some people just hate pairing because it doesn't jibe with their personality or work style. I understand this. It is just that I don't want to work with that kind of people because I in fact think that it is not healthy. For me it is a red flag to lack the basic social skills such as sitting together in front of the computer and demonstrating part of your programming skills in a live manner. The only way I would accept to work with somebody like that would be if they were a 10x programmer of something like that. > Draft PRs + a culture of continuous reviews accomplishes much of this No, they don't. No process can ever have the bandwidth of face to face communication so it has some benefits that no other process can offer. In the end this is not a situation where we have to choose between PRs and pair programming. The article suggests that we can and should have both. The key thing is to find the right balance, as it always is. Note: I used to be the biggest introvert & socially anxious person.

JediWing 5y ago
> It is not ok to be introverted nor socially anxious. Social anxiety is a clinical diagnosis that needs to be handled and treated, I agree there. However, I strongly disagree that it's "not ok" to be an introvert, and in fact am mildly offended that you would suggest such. Some of the rest of your comment leads me to believe you don't actually know what introversion means. > ... I in fact think that it is not healthy. For me it is a red flag to lack the basic social skills such as sitting together in front of the computer and demonstrating part of your programming skills in a live manner. Introvert != "lack [...] basic social skills". Introverts are perfectly capable of pair programming, it's just a draining and over the long haul less productive way for them to work. > I used to be the biggest introvert & socially anxious person. And you changed from getting energy from time alone to getting energy from other people? I suppose this is possible, but in the same way that it's possible to tie a left-handed person's hand behind their back and force them to be right handed. > As a general rule of thumb the more extrovert a person is the higher possibility of their success in life because humans are social animals. This is known. Because society is structured as such, and we should try to question whether that's wise rather than encourage people to completely change a fundamental personality type because it's "the way it is". Introverts and introverted ways of doing business are valuable, but since they aren't the ones talking over others they often get left in the dust. This is something that efforts towards diversity focus on. They aren't all about race or gender, they are also about our ways of thinking and acting, and how all of these types should be welcome. > No process can ever have the bandwidth of face to face communication Even if I were to agree with this (not completely sure I do), they can certainly have a better signal/noise ratio. > I don't want to work with that kind of people In fairness, from what you've said, they probably do not want to work with you, so maybe this method of mutual self-selection is in everbody's best interest.

underbluewaters 5y ago

Programming is one of the few professions where one can be very successful as an introvert, working in a manner that is compatible with my personality type. I think it's great that there are other methodologies for people with different preferences but I hope pair programming doesn't start to be seen as a "best practice" that is forced on all teams without acknowledging these personality differences.

CRConrad 5y ago
In a way I think it is a "best practice": It's a pretty central part of "Extreme Programming", which was one of the early sparks that ignited the whole "Agile" movement. And from what little I've gotten to do it, it really is an effective way to code, so I'm all for it... But yeah, I'm probably pretty extrovert, so easy for me to say. I don't know how, exactly, but it seems to me finding some way to get this to work also for the more introvert among us should be a pretty high priority on the methodology front.