Pair Programming

As a student in computer science, I am often given the choice to either work on a project alone or with a partner. While it seems like a trivial choice to me to go ahead and double the amount of brain power available on a project, there are studies that show benefits of both. There were two papers pertaining to the benefits of pair programming that were required readings for class. The first, titled All I Really Need to Know about Pair Programming I Learned in Kindergarten, essentially iterated through a list of adolescent morals creatively applied to the practice of effective pair programming. I find the list so interesting I will just go ahead and post it here:

Share everything. 

Play fair.

Don’t hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don’t take things that aren’t yours.

Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and

dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

Be aware of wonder.

While some seem to be a little forced in terms of relating them to good pair programming practice, most gave an interesting take on how to effectively program with a partner. "Wash your hands before you eat" refers to the act of washing out any form of skepticism in regards to pair programming. Each partner needs to really "buy in" to the idea in order for it to work. "Flushing" keeps people from getting too attached to code that does not work. Sometimes a fresh slate is needed in order to go on with the project. Of course, there are many other ideas here that emphasize the act of sharing the work with the partner and keeping each other from stressing out. Taking breaks is important along with not taking things too seriously. 

The second paper, which was a study on First Year Students' Impressions of Pair Programming in CS1, demonstrated not only many of the benefits of pair programming, but also those of working alone.  Often times difficult problems require intense thought that can only be available when working alone. Then again, it makes sense for two people to come up with their own ideas for difficult problems and then later collaborate to see which algorithm or approach yields the best solution. 

In my years in computer science I have found a few stubborn people that believe they are indeed smarter and more efficient than the other partner when paired up for pair programming assignments. It is this kind of attitude that employers do not want to see, and even if you are smarter than your partner, it never hurts to have another resource consistently available at your disposal. Two brains are almost always better than one.