How to Pair Program

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[werni]

I would like to share my personal experience with pair programming, especially from the perspective of an introverted developer. For me, pair programming means above all: loss of productivity and extreme stress.

In theory, it may sound good to divide the tasks into 'driver' and 'navigator', but in practice, the more dominant part often takes the lead - and the other remains passive. This creates an imbalance that is neither productive nor motivating.

Another major problem is that you never get into a state of flow. The constant synchronization of thoughts prevents the kind of deep concentration that is often necessary for creative and complex software solutions. Pair programming is incredibly energy-sapping - especially for introverts like me. After a whole day, I'm so exhausted that I want to give up everything, even though I love my job as a software developer.

Pair programming can be useful for very specific problems. But for longer than an hour, I think it should be restricted under occupational health and safety law. I wonder if there have already been any studies on this - especially with regard to the psychological stress for introverts. If not, it would be high time!

For me, pair programming takes away everything I value about software development: Personal responsibility, calm, focus and the joy of creative work.