Does pair programming work when there is a skills impedance mismatch?

Question

For example, can an experienced coder with limited C#.NET experience be successfully paired with an experienced C#.NET coder with the secondary aim of getting the former up to speed with C#.NET?

Answer 1

Absolutely. Sharing knowledge is one of the points of pair-programming (along with the useful dynamic of having one person type for a bit and the other review as they do it).

In my experience, it's one of the most effective ways of doing so - and allows the less experienced coder still to usefully contribute (it takes less experience to review what an expert is doing and make sensible comments/interventions than to do the entire job).

Answer 2

Yes, I find good pair programming is always two way, it's essentially a piece of social engineering masquerading as an IT innovation.

Answer 3

That depends on the personal chemistry between them. If the more experienced programmer is willing and able to share his knowledge, and let the less experienced programmer participate in the development through writing code and discussions, I would say that it is a very efficient way of learning.

Answer 4

You can certainly do this - we've done it in the past. But you have to accept that you trade off the "code quality" benefits against training benefits. There's no free training ride, I'm afraid.

Answer 5

It all depends on the personality of the developers there is no hard and fast rule.

One thing that is certain is that the experienced developer will be less productive when working with an inexperienced developer. I personally think there needs to be a good match of abilities when pair programming. It is however a very good way of getting inexperience developers up to speed.

Answer 6

Yes, this will work. If 1) the programmer with limited experience is receptive to learning C# and 2) the other programmer is willing to teach C#.

Answer 7

It works to some extent. Usually it's one leading the other... so it's not much pair programming in that sense.

It depends heavily on the experienced coder's skill to teach and the other coder's skill to learn quickly.

Answer 8

Personally, I think that would work well and is one of the goals of pair-programming but how successfully will depend on the two programmers. If programmer 1 (the one learning C#) was putting in some extra time to truly get up to speed and programmer 2 (the other one) has the patience and desire to teach it should be good for both.

Answer 9

Although its a good idea but practically it may not be useful. To train somebody you can organize training and assign mentor who can help and guide. The mentor can assign work from the real project and may monitor.

Pair programming should be between relatively experienced people, if you want to get the benefits of this concept. In my view pair programming with an inexperienced person will have loss of productivity and not sure how much the person will pickup when somebody is constantly checking on him. Assigning a task and giving chance to develop it independently and then review it will provide good self learning.

Answer 10

Yes, but only if the better person is patient and willing to teach and the worse person is willing to learn. I've pair programmed with people not as good as me and it was tedious, but I think they learnt from it. I've pair programmed with people that are better than me and I certainly learnt from it. Depends on the people really.

Answer 11

When the skill mismatch is high, then it does become more of a teacher/student relationship. This isn't bad, but can waste time of the skilled person.

However, even if it's impractical or a waste, it can be very useful to have a very occasional pair session! Even if the student is overwhelmed or it's awkward, sometimes it's useful for "students" to see how people of top level work and think. It helps give them an idea of the problems/skills/methods of high quality work. Think of it as a high school student visiting a research laboratory. It's a waste for the pro scientists to teach the high school student, but the 1 hour visit can help focus the student and give them a glimpse of the ultimate goals...

I remember why I chose Emacs as my editor. I just happened to sit near an expert user, and literally rudely peering over his shoulder I watched him rearrange and navigate code super-quickly. I only watched for less than a minute and I never talked to him.. he may have not even noticed I was watching! But I was floored, and decided to learn Emacs. Ten years later I still don't have as much skill as that expert, but I don't regret my decision to change editors, since I got a glimpse of what was possible.

Answer 12

Yes, but the approach to make it effective may not be clear at first. The task that is being pair programmed on should be the task of the less experienced programmer (We will call him Michael). I would also have Michael start the pair programming session so as to explain what the objective of the session is. This approach puts Michael in the drivers seat where the more experienced programmer (We will call him Bill) will serve more of a mentoring role.

Typically Bill will either take or be given more complex tasks to work on. This approach allows Michael to work on tasks that are more suited to his experience level. I would recommend switching off at 30 minute to hour intervals at first such that Michael can get used to the process of giving someone else control. You can slowly shorten these switch offs to 15 minute intervals or whatever works best for the two developers.

Answer 13

I think that the final results you get depend on the guys that are doing this. In this case, you'd probably end up with one leading the other (and where the other is just paying attention to understand the language features the first one is using).

Answer 14

It can be effective with the following caveat: You must switch partners.

I've actually been in this situation and, if the gap is large, it can be very taxing for both members of the pair. Best to switch partners after a few hours, with the time varying according to your tolerance and the size of the gap. If that option isn't available, mix in some solo programming.