3 ms·

I see it as one giant interruption. I'm not sure what I dislike more, "pair programming" or "open concept".

by lawnchair_larry 14y ago

fennecfoxen 14y ago
Indeed: Pair programming does not work for all programmers or all programming shops. It is possible to do it wrong, especially by making it mandatory for people who do not want to do it. Depending on its implementation it may have other negative properties that render it unsuitable for any given purpose. Its suitability for any particular purpose is a broad question which cannot be adequately addressed in the context of this little conversation! But. In my experience, when I was pair programming, and the pair programming was effective to begin with, then: when there were interruptions, the interruption-recovery process was significantly streamlined. I infer that this is one of the ways through which teams that actually already do pair programming manage to improve their productivity enough (relative to singleton-programming) to justify the arrangement.
zaptheimpaler 14y ago
As a college student, I do a lot of pair programming. IMO, the efficiency of pair programming comes down to how well matched the two are in skill, and how well they can communicate with each other. Depending on those two variables, it can be much more productive than a single programmer, or a huge roadblock to getting anything significant done.
- fokov 14y ago
  The problem is the business isn't paying for a single programmer's value, it is paying for two. The only time I have known pair programming actually worked pretty good was when a senior would take a junior under their wing when the junior was first hired. This would facilitate quick ramp-up for the junior to know all practices and the vast amount of things that are not documented (or updated). Keep in mind this only lasted a couple of months max, and not necessarily every day.

3 ms·

I see it as one giant interruption. I'm not sure what I dislike more, "pair programming" or "open concept".

by lawnchair_larry 14y ago

I see it as one giant interruption. I'm not sure what I dislike more, "pair programming" or "open concept".

fennecfoxen 14y ago
Indeed: Pair programming does not work for all programmers or all programming shops. It is possible to do it wrong, especially by making it mandatory for people who do not want to do it. Depending on its implementation it may have other negative properties that render it unsuitable for any given purpose. Its suitability for any particular purpose is a broad question which cannot be adequately addressed in the context of this little conversation! But. In my experience, when I was pair programming, and the pair programming was effective to begin with, then: when there were interruptions, the interruption-recovery process was significantly streamlined. I infer that this is one of the ways through which teams that actually already do pair programming manage to improve their productivity enough (relative to singleton-programming) to justify the arrangement.
zaptheimpaler 14y ago
As a college student, I do a lot of pair programming. IMO, the efficiency of pair programming comes down to how well matched the two are in skill, and how well they can communicate with each other. Depending on those two variables, it can be much more productive than a single programmer, or a huge roadblock to getting anything significant done.
- fokov 14y ago
  The problem is the business isn't paying for a single programmer's value, it is paying for two. The only time I have known pair programming actually worked pretty good was when a senior would take a junior under their wing when the junior was first hired. This would facilitate quick ramp-up for the junior to know all practices and the vast amount of things that are not documented (or updated). Keep in mind this only lasted a couple of months max, and not necessarily every day.