Effective Pair Programming Blog

An Old Proverb Goes: "Two heads are better than one." Do you want to learn how to release maximum productivity and creativity in tiny lunch hours--without any painful screamers to reach such a goal? That "lone coder in a dark room with headphones" image is not a good one in the world of software development. Nevertheless, there may be more effective ways of writing great code than to sit alone and concentrate for long hours on end. The notion that two people sitting together in front of a single computer produce better results than when they work separately is counter-intuitive. Nevertheless, this practice, known by the fashionable name pair programming, is a cornerstone of modern software engineering for one great reason. Not only gets you extra eyeballs; sharing knowledge with your partner may save knowledge for both present and future use. This contributes significantly to your team's effectiveness. In an industry requiring both speed and precision, the ability to pair program effectively is a powerful asset for any development team.

• So Just What Is Pair Programming?
• Pair Programming: What It's Actually Like
• How Working in Pairs Pays Off
• Challenges and How to Overcome Them
• Pair programming challenges the myth of the solitary genius developer.

So Just What Is Pair Programming?

)Why Do It?Pair programming is a software development technique that uses two programmers to work on a single workstation. It's not a matter of one person watching another work; instead, it's an active, dynamic process with its roles defined clearly and constantly in flux.

The most common model used in pair programming is something known as the Driver-Navigator arrangement. The Driver: This person sits at the keyboard and writes code. Their focus is tactical -syntax typing, naming variables and implementing immediate logic. The Navigator (or Observer): This person actively watches the Driver at work. They are also strategic, reviewing each line in real-time while it's still fresh in his/her mind for typos or inefficiencies. The Navigator keeps the big picture in mind questions like "Where does this fit intowards the feature?" and "Is there a better way to solve this problem that doesn't involve more coding?"

Moreover, the roles are constantly shifting. In order to maintain interest and avoid exhaustion, playing involves changing partners every half hour or so. So, with people in a state of constant shuffling, we can pair here for half an hour and there for ten minutes. This rotating arrangement ensures there are always fresh eyes looking at the tactical and strategic aspects of a project.

Pair Programming: What It's Actually Like

But the concept isn't just an academic exercise; it's a tool employed by prominent technology firms and teams all over the world that use agile methods.

Imagine an agile development team that is building a new e-commerce feature. Instead of allocating one developer to each of two different parts of the feature, let them work in pairs. One developer (the Driver) starts to code the function that adds an item into the shopping cart. The Navigator watches, catching a possible bug wherein the inventory count is not being updated correctly. They talk it out, fix it on the spot and go on. Later they change places. The new Driver tidies up a little for performance, while the new Navigator sees it through with a maintaining eye to overall level of project cleanliness. In this scenario, a bug that would have taken hours to track down and fix later gets caught and fixed in seconds.

Another common application is during complex code reviews. Rather than a developer sending in a larger block of code for others to look over asynchronously, they may instead partner with a senior developer. Together they walk through the changes, making adjustments on the fly. A potentially confrontational review process thus becomes a cooperative learning experience.

How Working in Pairs Pays Off

Some recursive examples might illustrate this point. While the point likely seems slow at first (after all, two people are doing one job), the benefits will generally make up for any initial time investment.

After all, the one with two is better than the one with one. This means that more people examining your code could catch more problems before they ever hit the ground. The Navigator doubles as an ongoing code reviewer, and that even with fewer errors in your work it is likely to carry a more robust design.

Greater knowledge sharing: Pairing is one of the most effective ways to disseminate knowledge within a team. A junior developer working together with an experienced partner will soak up programming habits, organizational techniques and architecture mandates. Similarly, and this is something that might not be as immediately obvious until you try it, a more experienced developer can learn of (perhaps) a new tool or technique from his junior partner. This "cross-fertilization" of skills makes the entire team stronger.

The effect of working closely together: Relationships strengthen, and closeness forms trust. Pairs pick up each other's communication habits and problem-solving methods so that they are more like the same family with similar styles while at work. This breaks down what have been called knowledge silos in this series, where only one person knows how an essential part of our system operates.

Better Solutions All Round: The continuous dialogue between the Driver and Navigator often leads to more creative, elegant solutions. The Navigator's strategic perspective can prevent the Driver from getting wrapped around his axle. Swapping of ideas between them sparks innovations that might not appear if they worked in isolation.

Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Of course, paired programming hasn't got all the answers. It has its own problems, and people must consciously work to overcome them.

Personality clashes: All personalities don't mix well under pressure. A combination of two rather dominant personalities will more likely lead to conflict, while a pairing of the less assertive can lack direction altogether. Solution:–The answer is to create an environment that promotes mutual respect and psychological safety. Teams could lay down ground rules for communication, emphasizing that all ideas are worth considering; while criticism of a suggestion should be constructive and specific rather than attacking the person suggesting it.

Embedded Developers Face Ethical Issues In Pair Programming.

We are very much in agreement with this conclusion. So long as honesty and balance go hand in hand, so long as both parties can approach the other without preconceived ideas, communication must seem to offer only a good route which leads deeper into understanding.

Similarly in. As a result, providing an experienced mentor to pair alongside an inexperienced junior has not only been shown to produce more efficient programming but also significantly lower bug rates and better performance than when they stationed themselves at opposite ends of an office desk.

Conflict! If we are faced with inexperienced developers of Javascript as our mentors, how can they deal with our requirements when they themselves cannot meet those standards?

Blog proponents are all newcomers in an ever-changing future. People are willing to work but can not get a job; generations-one after another-keep coming into existence like forest fungi.

Sticking needles through one's eyes!

We don't know what will eventually emerge from this; "The Enigma of 'The 4-Toast' maybe plays into that. But we are careful to ensure that this new life characteristic somehow mirrors others (in Japanese art, for instance). Indeed, reciprocal relationships are essential for the very survival of any human being.

Pair programming challenges the myth of the solitary genius developer.

It presents code development as a team event. By working together, communication, cooperation and shared responsibility produce better results. It is difficult and requires time and discipline, but the advantages are clear; a higher standard of software, stronger teams, and faster growth for the individual developers. Conversely, taking that attitude, development teams can produce products which are more robust in the face of failure and build a more supportive and collaborative engineering culture. Why not try pair programming? What have been your experiences, for better or worse? In your opinion, what is one factor that most affects whether or not it will be successful?