@freemo it's actually called pair programming and when used sparingly but effectively can increase productivity and increase a team's bus factor.
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@jcbrand The only time it is useful is if someone has reached a blocker, doesnt know how to solve it, and asks for help from another programmer. But I wouldnt call that peer programming. Outside of that I find it to be the biggest waste of time and drain on resources I've ever experienced as a programmer.
That said I'm also a highly experienced coder who gains very little from a peer. I'd imagine if your inexperienced and only have half the knowledge and pair up with a partner of a limited skill level then you may be able to combine those skills and get some improvement out of peer programming (though I highly doubt even then it would reach the 2x level needed to be worth the cost).
@freemo Pair programming is not only about the benefit to yourself, sometimes it's about transferring knowledge and expertise to someone else for their benefit.
Besides that, nobody knows all platforms, protocols or languages and I'm sure even you can benefit from pairing up with an expert.
I (and I believe most people who advocate pair programming) consider pairing up with someone to help them overcome a blocker to be pair programming.
@jcbrand All I know is every Pair Programming session I was ever in wasted several hours of my life and could have been condensed into about 5 minutes of documentation much more effectively. With the benefit of it being reusable next time someone is stuck.
It is more often than not a band-aid for an already dysfunctional set of coding practices (lack of good documentation, inability to learn on your own, or read documentation, etc).
@jcbrand There is a huge difference between muscle memory (which cant be taught through documentation) and what we are talking about.Sorry as someone who has been giving in at honest go for 6 months i have nothing but bad opinions about the technique in a business setting.
@freemo We're not talking about muscle memory, so please leave that straw man alone.
I'm talking about knowledge and expertise transfer.
I respect that you haven't had a good experience with pair programming. It can and does get overused and it doesn't work in all cases. But to say it's two programmers doing the work of one is missing the point completely.
@jcbrand When refering to tandem skydiving you ARE refering to muscle memory. The reason it is a requirement in that situation is because you can not do knowledge transfer f muscle memory through a book so you have no choice but to go tandem. In the case of programming you are transfering knowledge not physical training so the analogy no longer applies.
Saying it is two programmers doing the work of one is the effect ive observed. Obviously it is not the "point" but it is the result.
@freemo You conveniently forget that I also used scuba diving in the same sentence. I haven't skydived (have you?), but I have done scuba diving, and the buddy system is NOT there to teach you muscle memory.
@freemo There are all kinds of things that cannot be transferred via documentation. To see how another developer reasons about, and solves, problems, is very valuable. To see how they use their tools and what their development process is can also be very enlightening.
@jcbrand I'm not saying there arent cases where pair programming isnt helpful. But if its more than 2% of your day its probably obstructive. Obviously everyone screen shares from time to time.
@freemo Documentation is important and can help, but it's definitely not a replacement for pair programming.
Think of it like tandem skydiving, or the buddy-system in scuba diving. The instructor doesn't complain about wasted time, it's understood that doing it in tandem is safer and better for the novice.