Fanciful Magic

eXtreme Programming Growing Pains

I've been having more XP growing pains. It's hard going from working in solitude (where on a team to working in pairs. Some days I love pair programming and on others it seems like an albatross around my neck. I still think pair programming is the way to go, but we as developers have a lot to learn about being social. We spend our time behind either books or computers. I'm as guilty as any other developer (perhaps more so). I love to program and read about technical stuff. So, are my partners making pair programming less desirable on certain days? NO! It's me. I'm used to programming alone and pairing on critical issues. Sometimes, I feel like I a need a break from pairing, but I know it's just my comfort zone talking. It's becoming more natural to pair, but it hasn't been without a few pains. My daily programming life is better since I pair everyday, but it's that inner urge to grab the keyboard and rock'n'roll that I keep fighting. Must resist...=) Pair programming is good because the quality of the code is higher and I learn a lot from my partner everytime I do it. I plan on blogging more on the pyschology of pair programming (not that I'm a pyschologist), but I find it interesting the social interaction of pairs. I think proper mixing of different personalities is very important in XP and knowing how to deal with them.