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Add pair-programming post
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content/technical/2017/10/pair-programming.md
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content/technical/2017/10/pair-programming.md
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# Pair Programming
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> All code to be sent into production is created by two people working together
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> at a single computer.
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— <http://www.extremeprogramming.org/rules/pair.html>
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Recently I read [The Only Person I’ll Pair Program with is my Cat by Patrick A.
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Brown][cat-programming] and it stirred up some thoughts that got too long for a
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tweeted response. So I'm capturing my own feelings on the practice here.
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I don't enjoy the practice of pair programming as it is defined above. It's
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taken me a long time to be able to admit that because there is evidence that
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pair programming is faster and produces higher quality
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results,<sup>[[1]][pairprog-hannay-ist09]</sup> and that most people enjoy
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it.<sup>[[2]][XPSardinia]</sup> Going against this evidence makes me feel like
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I'm a bad programmer, or that I'm not doing my job well.
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For me (full-time) pairing takes the fun out of my job. It may be argued that
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I'm not employed to have fun but you can be damn sure that if spending half my
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waking hours a day in your employ I'm going to want it to be enjoyable. I'm not
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some resource that solely exists to extract maximum efficiency out of in order
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to further other people's goals. I'm a person with my own goals that is
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**expending a great deal of my life** in other people's employ so that I may
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live, and have a fun and fulfilling life.
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When pairing full time, or most of the time:
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* I get tired and drained:
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* As a bit of an introvert, I find extended periods of pairing extremely
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draining. I don't think introversion is really factored in when the XP
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crew advocate for full-time pair programming.
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* I lose any chance of achieving a [flow state][flow].
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* Tools and technology are diluted to the lowest common denominator:
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* I have invested countless hours learning, [configuring][dotfiles], and
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mastering powerful tools like [Neovim], [zsh], and [my operating
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system][arch-linux], which I'd like to be able to use.
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* I miss the satisfaction of working on and solving a problem myself.
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* I am generally less satisfied and enthusiastic about work.
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To be clear I'm not advocating for never working with a fellow developer or a
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complete lack of collaboration within your team. I'm stating that I don't like
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the practice of requiring or pressuring people to work as a pair for all or the
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bulk of their time. Also, pairing is the practice when two people of similar
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skill level work together. If there is a disparity in skill level then it's
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mentoring, which is a totally different thing.
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To me, "working together at a single computer", is a tool in your tool belt
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like any other that you use when it makes sense. Trying to solve a
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particularly complex problem? Work with someone on it. Been [stuck for a little
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while, enlist some help][15-minute-rule]. When the time is right for
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collaborating on a problem it is a skill like any other that can be improved
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and honed. [Ellie Meredith gave a great talk at the Melbourne Ruby meetup in
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August][aemeredith-pair-effectively] on some tips that contribute to
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effective pairing. These tips can help improve your effectiveness, and
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enjoyment when it's the right tool for the job.
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If you love pairing full time, great, but keep in mind that not everyone feels
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the same way. If you don't really enjoy paring full-time, rest assured you're
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not alone. Look after yourself, hone your skills and pair when it makes sense.
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[cat-programming]: https://medium.com/@patrickabrown/the-only-person-ill-pair-program-with-is-my-cat-86da6fb4da3d
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[pairprog-hannay-ist09]: http://www.idi.ntnu.no/grupper/su/publ/ebse/R11-pairprog-hannay-ist09.pdf
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[XPSardinia]: https://collaboration.csc.ncsu.edu/laurie/Papers/XPSardinia.PDF
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[aemeredith-pair-effectively]: https://speakerdeck.com/aemeredith/two-heads-are-better-than-one
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[flow]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
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[Neovim]: https://neovim.io/
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[zsh]: http://www.zsh.org/
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[arch-linux]: https://www.archlinux.org/
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[dotfiles]: https://github.com/wezm/dotfiles
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[15-minute-rule]: https://blog.intercom.com/15-minute-rule/
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content/technical/2017/10/pair-programming.yaml
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---
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title: Pair Programming
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extra: My thoughts on full-time pair programming.
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kind: article
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section: technical
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created_at: 2017-10-21 12:05:00.000000000 +10:00
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keywords:
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- practices
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- pair
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- programming
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- psychology
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- introversion
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short_url:
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