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?
I found it effective but exhausting. Did it for a full year, full time in an XP software shop. Burned out, needed six months in a low-pressure solo work team to recover.
Pairing wasn’t boring to me, though. Are you trading drivers regularly? Catching bugs as you go? Thinking out loud and getting feedback as you consider options? Discussing the interesting bits, like debating pros and cons of different design patterns? Parallelizing the boring bits so you’re burning through it together quickly? If you ever find yourself quietly watching someone else do menial work for any great length of time without providing meaningful input, something is wrong.