Pair Programming: What It Is, Why People Use It, and How You Can Learn To Pair Program

The programmer at the keyboard is called a “driver,” while the second programmer is referred to as the “navigator.” This duo can structure their work to fit different styles. Studies have shown that pair programming can result in 15% fewer defects in code, depending on the thoroughness of the coders. Studies have also attributed improvements in design quality, team communication, and the coder’s enjoyment of the process to pair programming practices. Pair programming is a collaborative effort that involves a lot of communication.

what is pair programming requires two developers, one workstation, one keyboard and a mouse. We believe that pair programming is often avoided because it can create friction, but we would ask you to give it a chance. If you consciously treat it as an improvable skill, and work on getting better at it, you will end up with a more resilient team. Ultimately, you can’t force a practice on people, and it does not work for everybody. You might end up pairing with only a part of the team – at least in the beginning. From our experience the best way to convince people is by having a regular exposure to the practice, experiencing the benefits and fun their team members have while pairing.

Pair Programming

You might have differences in techniques, knowledge, skills, extraversion, personalities, or approaches to problem-solving. Some combinations of those might not match well and give you a rocky start. In that case, you need to invest some time to improve collaboration, and make it a mutual learning experience instead of a struggle. Awareness of all its potential benefits is important to decide when you do it, how to do it well, and to motivate yourself to do it in challenging times. The main goals pairing can support you with are software quality and team flow. An important aspect of this is the idea that the driver totally trusts the navigator and should be “comfortable with incomplete understanding”.

Some people may not agree on idea of sitting, literally shoulder-to-shoulder, with a colleague for eight hours a day. Some experienced developers are more productive in solo rather than in pair programming. Knowledge is constantly shared between pair programmers, whether in the industry or in a classroom. Many sources suggest that students show higher confidence when programming in pairs, and many learn whether it be from tips on programming language rules to overall design skills. Pair programming also fits nicely into modern development pipelines such as CI/CD and truck-based development. It’s been around in the software development industry for decades.

Two modes of thinking combined

Take charge of the reasoning process and discussion by applying multiple approaches to solve any issue. In contrast, if they are assigned to work on two different programs individually, the slow-down rate goes close to about 50%. This means that when two people work on one problem collectively, the problem is solved faster than that of one person working on one program.

Working in isolation, without the distractions of the office, is great when you’re in the zone. “It works until you run into a difficult problem to solve,” says Ronald. This system also breaks up the development project into smaller, specifically defined tasks under the agile project structure. He observes a room full of two programmers working at each computer. He states that, “Two programmers in tandem is not redundancy; it’s a direct route to greater efficiency and better quality.” If your team follows the Scrum methodology, the best candidates for pair planning are the sprint planning and sprint review meetings.

Pair programming in interviews

You’re learning to work cooperatively with other team members. Where junior developers are involved, prioritize learning over productivity. Pair programming is an essential practice in Extreme Programming. Remote pair programming is a specialization where developers can be at different locations.

• Looking for a collaborative coding tool that will work with your remote team?
• New developers can more easily find their place within the team and familiarize themselves with the coding environment, with the help of their coworkers.
• In this technique, the programming partners work from completely different locations instead of sitting together at the same workstation.
• Working together is the best opportunity to share ideas and to improve yourself.
• In these situations, remember to take on the mindset of pair development, as opposed to pair programming.
• Since pairing facilitates knowledge sharing it can help with the onboarding of new team members.

This significantly improves the design quality of the program as it reduces the chances of selecting a poor method. These editors have features such as syntax highlighting and autocomplete for words and codes which simplify the process of writing code. But to be truly effective, this method requires resources and the willingness to work together constructively. It means that roles of the Driver or Navigator/Observer can be switched at any moment. Even if one of the programmers is more experienced, pair programming means working together and not Mentoring each other. Unstructured pairingWhen no specific approach is followed, the role switching happens whenever it makes sense.

Plan the Day

It’s often a task left for last, and when it’s the last thing keeping us from the great feeling of putting our story into “Done”, then more often than not, we skip it, or “wing it”. Working in a pair keeps us honest about some of the valuable, but annoying things that we’ll be very thankful for in the future. Get back together after a previously agreed upon timebox and discuss and share what you have found.

Pair programming is a practice of two programmers working together on the same task at a single computer. Typically, one of them is a driver and the second one is a navigator. The driver writes the code and the navigator reviews the code and plans the action. The goal is to increase software quality without impacting time to deliver. When two people work on the same project at a single computer, they add as much functionality as if they work separately but it is much higher in quality.

Imperative programming: Overview of the oldest programming paradigm

For example, if the driver makes an error, give them several seconds to correct it before pointing it out. The “Watch the Master” phenomenon can arise if one member is more experienced than the other. In this situation, the junior member may take the observer role, deferring to the senior member of the pair for the majority of coding activity. Respond responsibly and avoid complicated methods so that the other programmer can instantly act upon them. Hence, the driver and the navigator should be honest and open to all sorts of problems. They must work on balancing their great abilities and should always stay away from the “my way or the highway” perspective.

Clarifying important questions is vital when two coders work together. This is especially important in a novice-expert or novice-novice pair. The novice should ask any questions they have https://www.globalcloudteam.com/ and take advantage of the opportunity to improve and learn. Another programmer is looking over the driver’s code, which can help reduce mistakes and improve the quality of the code.

Fewer mistakes and bugs

Pair programming is used to great effect in both educational and professional contexts. It is a useful teaching tool, a great onboarding tool, and an efficient way to plow through certain types of coding problems by applying two brains instead of one. Between its editor-agnosticism and collaborative flexibility, CodeTogether now looks like the best option for many real-world teams. Live Share can share your workspace, terminal, and local servers, and you can communicate over voice from within the tool.