Pair programming is one of the characteristics of extreme programming and is, frankly, something I have not been a particularly strong advocate of. The idea of two developers sitting side-by-side, sharing one keyboard and working the exact same problem seems terribly inneficient to me. However, there are two reasons why, for short periods of time, that it would be beneficial to engage in pair programming.
The first one would be for test driven development. For a particular functional area under development one developer would write the unit/integration tests and one would write the code. To me, this would be the most efficient use of pair programming.
The second reason why I think it would be beneficial to perform short stints of pair programming would be to gain insight into the work practices, processes and procedures of one's teammates. For me personally, I could see how my teammates work and glean some ideas on how I could be more productive and efficient. What tools do they use? How do they use them? Do they have any shortcuts or time-savers? Likewise, it would be an opportunity for me to help my teammates improve their efficiency by offering suggestions based on the things that I do that help me.
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