Pair programming: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 04:16, 26 November 2023

Revision as of 21:48, 14 January 2024

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==Economics==

Pair programming increases the [[man-hour|personman-hour]]s required to deliver code compared to programmers working individually.<ref name="ijhcs"/> However, the resulting code has fewer defects.<ref name="costs-benefits"/> Along with code development time, other factors like field support costs and quality assurance also figure into the return on investment. Pair programming might theoretically offset these expenses by reducing defects in the programs.<ref name="costs-benefits">{{Cite journal|last1=Cockburn|first1=Alistair|last2=Williams|first2=Laurie|author2-link=Laurie Williams (software engineer)|title=The Costs and Benefits of Pair Programming|journal=Proceedings of the First International Conference on Extreme Programming and Flexible Processes in Software Engineering (XP2000)|author-link=Alistair Cockburn|year=2000|url=http://collaboration.csc.ncsu.edu/laurie/Papers/XPSardinia.PDF}}</ref>

In addition to preventing mistakes as they are made, other intangible benefits may exist. For example, the courtesy of rejecting phone calls or other distractions while working together, taking fewer breaks at agreed-upon intervals, or shared breaks to return phone calls (but returning to work quickly since someone is waiting). One member of the team might have more focus and help drive or awaken the other if they lose focus, and that role might periodically change. One member might have knowledge of a topic or technique that the other does not, which might eliminate delays to find or testing a solution, or allow for a better solution, thus effectively expanding the skill set, knowledge, and experience of a programmer as compared to working alone. Each of these intangible benefits, and many more, may be challenging to accurately measure but can contribute to more efficient working hours.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

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| doi = 10.1016/j.infsof.2009.02.001}}</ref>

Although pair programmers may complete a task faster than a solo programmer, the total number of [[man-hour|personman-hour]]s increases.<ref name="ijhcs"/> A manager would have to balance faster completion of the work and reduced testing and debugging time against the higher cost of coding. The relative weight of these factors can vary by project and task.

The benefit of pairing is greatest on tasks that the programmers do not fully understand before they begin: that is, challenging tasks that call for creativity and sophistication, and for novices as compared to experts.<ref name='ijhcs'>{{cite journal