Alexandre Martins » Coaching http://blog.m.artins.net On Agile Software Development Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:09:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Ping Pong Pairing: Even More Fun! http://blog.m.artins.net/ping-pong-pairing-even-more-fun/ http://blog.m.artins.net/ping-pong-pairing-even-more-fun/#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:05:16 +0000 Alexandre Martins http://blog.m.artins.net/?p=137 The agile software development practice I like the most, and at the same time, the one I find the most difficult is pair programming. Each individual has his/her own way of working, and characteristics such as motivation, engagement, habits, open-mindedness, and coding/design style varies a lot from individuals. Sometimes, to get a balance between these differences is quite hard. I am still not an expert in pair programming coaching, but I've been learning a lot on my current assignment.

And from this experience, it seems that clients are definitely more involved and amused when it comes pairing following the ping pong pattern.

Ping Pong Pattern

It happens when the developer 1 from a pair implements a test for a given feature and see it failing, then passes the keyboard to developer 2 who makes the test pass, do some refactoring on the code and implements another test, passing the keyboard back to developer 1 to do the same thing and continue until the feature is done.

Why Do We Like

  • Challenge - Each time a developer writes a test for you to make it pass, it sounds like a challenge, then you do it and write another one, challenging him back.
  • Dynamics - The worse thing is a developer that just hogs the keyboard, making you feel a useless. Ping pong pairing makes you swap keyboard more frequently.
  • Engagement - Developers are much more engaged because they are constantly coding, not only observing.
  • Fun - It is so much fun when you have all the above items together!
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