Comparing Pair Programming to Solo Programming

Brian Slesinsky wrote recently comparing Pair Programming to Code Reviews and argues that Pair Programming is better. I agree with his reasoning. I also think we need more hard-data on comparison of pairing vs. solo programming. It is a multi-dimensional issue, involving at least:

• Total developer time spent.
• Code quality and increase/reduction in the cost of product quality (more bugs == higher cost.)
• Time-to-market. Two people spending 70 hours in parallel is faster to market than one person spending 100 hours.
• Personalities and social dynamics. People have widely differing and strong held feelings about pairing vs. solo programming.

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How much eXtremism is too extreme?

Blain Buxton recently wrote about how Pair Programming all the time could be bad, and in general makes the case for not being extreme about being eXtreme.

I think the most important point Blaine makes is that one should always be focused on what is best for the process, not on adhering to any particular technique.

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