Matt O’ Rama

Five risks of solo programming

Five risks of solo programming | Agile Software Development.

• High defect rate
• Distractions that force you out of the zone
• Low focus and discipline
• Low incentive to adhere to common practices
• Slow learning

Pair programming is one of the practices I’ve always had a hard time wrapping my mind around. I’ve been told a bunch of times how great it is, and I’ve even been party to the benefits in small amounts as debug sessions and the like, but I can’t get to the point of accepting that I should be doing it all the time. One of the commentors on the post basically gives all the standard complaints and I hope the author or somebody gives a rebuttal. At the conference a lot of people stated pair programming as a given good, “proven” to work. I haven’t seen that proof but I’d like to find it.

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