[wp-hackers] Distributed Pairprogramming for Wordpress development?

[Otto]

On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 7:48 AM, Eike Starkmann
<eike.starkmann at fu-berlin.de> wrote:
> Saros is an Eclipse plugin for collaborative text editing and distributed
> pair programming, i.e. it allows two or more developers to work together in
> real-time on the same files.

Speaking as somebody who's been coding professionally for 10 years, I
couldn't let this go by...

I've had to do this sort of thing before (not distributed, but pair
programming). It is, by far, the worst idea ever conceived by
man(agers). I would rip my own arm off and beat myself to death with
it before I'd ever do this sort of thing again.

The theory of pair programming is that you have two developers working
on the same piece of code, able to notice and correct mistakes.

The reality of pair programming is that one guy is better than the
other guy, and spends half his time explaining the problem and
solution to the other guy, instead of simply coding the damn thing.
The lesser of the two programmers only drags the other guy down to his
level, and wastes both of their time.

The only way that pair programming works is if both programmers are a)
equally skilled and b) not particularly skilled. In other words, for
newbs fresh out of college, it works fine. For a seasoned programmer,
the very notion is a valid reason to look for a job elsewhere.

In general, it's a horrible practice, and anybody actively using it is
an idiot. IMO, of course.

Also, peer review is highly overrated as well, for other reasons.
People who actively write good code don't need it, and people who
don't write good code shouldn't be put in the position of writing code
in the first place.

-Otto
Sent from Memphis, TN, United States