Pair Programming – Even Kids Can Do it!
A coding practice so easy that even kids can use it
Pair programming. It’s so easy even kids can do it. That’s my daughter (on the left) below working away on her Scratch project with a friend at their regular Sunday morning Scratch Club.
So why, if an 8yr old can pair program, do so many adults find it so hard? Or perhaps just disagreeable?
I don’t have an answer to that question, but I will contradict myself. Pair programming isn’t actually easy. It’s also a skill in its own right. You might be the GOAT. A 10x developer. The ultimate deity of coding in your language of choice. Yet you may still not be able to pair program for toffee.
Like any skill, it will also atrophy if not used regularly. So. if pair programming in an annual activity when you onboard a new team member, you’re going to suck at it.
I’m not an XP zealot. I don’t think every line of code you write needs to be pair programmed. I do think it’s a valuable tool that a good developer should keep polished and ready to use.
