For the members of a XP team, pair-programming serves as a key source of continuous growth. Everyday, there is something new to learn from your partner. For example:
Rather than using Eclipse or Visual Studio.Net for previewing single files, I used Textpad ocassionaly. Overall, I was happy with Textpad, except for its weird key bindings like:
F5 - Search text.
F8 - Replace text.
I did complain occasionally, but got used to it. However, during a pair-programming episode, my partner showed me how to change the key bindings to default to Microsoft Application settings:
Click Configure –> Preferences –> Editor
Each member of a pair has certain unique skills & tricks to offer. By pairing, the partner gets a chance to learn the skills and tricks, without much efforts and time investment.
This experience may seem very trivial. However, it is these knowledge-transfer experiences that accumulate to make pair-programming enriching and effective.
Tags: 3 Comments
Hi,
I see your point.
However, can you prove that pair-programming is cost effective? Can you tell me that pair-programming is cheaper than solo-programming?
-R
Has anyone proven that solo programming is more cost effective than pair-programming? I haven’t seen any proof either way.
There are a number of studies and papers out there - my view is that this is not a settled issue.
Here are a few links:
http://collaboration.csc.ncsu.edu/laurie/Papers/XPSardinia.PDF
http://alistair.cockburn.us/crystal/articles/ppcb/pairprogrammingcostbene.html
http://weblogs.java.net/blog/castelaz/archive/2004/09/pair_programmin.html
http://www.agilemanagement.net/Articles/Weblog/FeaturedBlogEntries/EconomicsofXP.html