On Pair Programming

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Martin Fowler

Many people who work in software development today have heard of the practice of pair programming, yet it still only has patchy adoption in the industry. One reason for its varying acceptance is that its benefits are not immediately obvious, it pays off more in the medium- and long-term. And it’s also not as simple as “two people working at a single computer”, so many dismiss it quickly when it feels uncomfortable. However, in our experience, pair programming is vital for collaborative teamwork and high quality software.

Betty Snyder and I, from the beginning, were a pair. And I believe that the best programs and designs are done by pairs, because you can criticise each other, and find each others errors, and use the best ideas.

Jean Bartik, one of the very first programmers

Write all production programs with two people sitting at one machine.

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