ChillyDBA (9/27/2012)
This is a pretty accurate summary of the things that made my experience of pair programming a success
Several years back I was involved in an extended data migration project moving 3 application databases with similar ancestry into a new central database. The problem here was total lack of documentation.
1. Skill set - we had totally complementary skill sets - mine was focused on data manipulation, TSQL and reporting, and hers was .Net and Business logic. While we occasionally needed to herd others into meeting rooms for group interrogation sessions, the majority of the work was completed without the need for the meeting hell that can often drag down projects.
2. Work ethic - we both had basically the same focused approach, but kept each other in check if we wandered.
3. Language barrier - I'm sure the winning attribute here was that we are both British ex-pats living and working in Canada. Not a great culture difference, but enough to make it relaxing when we didn't have to worry about translating colloquialisms 🙂
Glad it worked well for you, and it proves that pairing works when these 3 above variables are shared by both parties. However, when you are paired for example (many times without your consent or approval) with a junior programmer from India with a very thick accent that is more interested in talking on the phone overseas all the time in a language you can't even understand, then the results can be much different. It all depends on who you are paired up with that makes the final result. 😀
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"