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Random Question: is it weird I don't like pair programming? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I've been working in programming for a few years and I think I really dislike Pair Programming; I understand how it is but I often find it mind-numbingly dull. I have a feeling I'm doing it wrong but I feel like as a part of a dev team tasks should be broken into discrete enough chunks that a single person can just blitz through the work... Maybe it's just me, what are y'all thoughts on the matter?

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago

I think it depends on what your team's goals are for pair programming. If you're using it to just 'complete a task,' then yes, I think it's likely to be counterproductive.

The better benefits tend to be

Knowledge and practice sharing across the team
Highlighting and aligning mental models about a project and it's associated code
Providing coaching/mentorship opportunities between people with different experiences and strengths (not necessarily between just senior and junior devs).

And, as with any activity, the more explicit you can be beforehand about why you're doing it and what the expected goals/outcomes are, the more likely it is that you will find pair programming useful when it's appropriate and recognize when it's not.