People often ask me whether pair programming permits the “flow” state, and the answer is yes - and it’s much more resilient than the solo version.
I’m an introvert, so pair programming is more tiring than solo programming (at first), but I love it anyway, for this and many other reasons.
I did full time (~7hrs/day everyday) pair programming for many years.
For the first three months I was exhausted all. the. time. I actually don’t have clear memories of those 3 months; the only other time in my life that happened was right after each baby was born😅
For the first three months I was exhausted all. the. time. I actually don’t have clear memories of those 3 months; the only other time in my life that happened was right after each baby was born😅
After that, it got better. Like any other skill, if you communicate a lot, it gets easier.
Talking to other developers was communication “easy mode” - we had similar backgrounds & interests, so we could just launch into code & design discussion.
But after a few months, I found I was also better at talking to people on the outside - who weren’t developers or sometimes who weren’t even in tech! 😱
Pair programming felt like a cheat code - I could “just” communicate about code & design, but it secretly made me better at communicating other things as well.
I know there are lots of reasons to pair program for code quality and etc etc etc, but I don’t see much written about the personal benefits.
For me, an introvert with meh social skills, pairing opened up a previously-inaccessible world.
It made me good at talking to people.
For me, an introvert with meh social skills, pairing opened up a previously-inaccessible world.
It made me good at talking to people.
I cannot overstate how important learning to communicate has been in developing my career. It’s the only way I’ve been able to stay an individual contributor this long.
Earlier in my career, I thought it was the managers who needed people skills, but as a high-level individual contributor, you are expected to lead projects that cross the org chart...while having no official authority over anyone.
In some ways, to do well, high-level individual contributors need better people skills than managers. We don’t have access to all the carrots (or sticks) that they do.
