I only tried pair-programming when I was in college, but now we do something like pair-testing, for example when someone more skilled helps another; or when we reproduce defects so the developer “watches” them happen.
Besides everything else, I think pair-working helps to keep the focus, thus saving a lot of time. I bet we won’t check new email, handle phone calls, surf the web, reply to forums like these… while we are pair-working. So we should count that as time saving, to balance the cost of having 2 workers on the same task. Due to this “’forced’ focus, we also save a lot of brain effort in context-switching.
The drawback is that, as in any focused, concentrated, demanding activity, our mind will not use the self-resting and balancing mechanisms that would work if we were alone. I would dare to say that 8 hours a day on pair-programming must harm our mental health.
Does the words meditation and silence ring any bells in this context?
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