Re: XP and Pair Programming

H. S. Lahman wrote:

>> Does that say I'm incompetent to review? or that reviewing is a
>> diversity-challenged technique?
>
> There is no doubt that reviewing other people's work is a learned skill.

Thank you for identifying the third option ;-)

> But the techniques are no different than those employed in pair
> programming to identify errors, bad coding practices, blind spots, and
> whatnot. If you can do it in a pair situation you should be able to do it
> in any review situation.
>
> Actually finding bugs is best done by having multiple screens, even when
> coverage overlaps. IOW, a review is just a form of test. Each view of
> the application represents a different screen for review purposes so the
> more views there are besides the code itself, the more reliable the
> application will tend to be. Those views also provide the different
> perspectives that you seek.

This discussion neglects one terrific and completely anecdotal aspect of
pairing. Naturally, the odds of resulting bugs goes down. However, the rate
at which one pair exclaims and points, "Ooh, there's a bug!" goes way down
too.

To leverage our synergies, the learned reviewing behavior is of course very
important. (Kelly and Brad paired all day, then I land on their design like
a hawk landing on a rabbit, and kick its guts out with one sweep of my
talons.) In terms of teamwork, I review what I know how to, and others
review what they know how to.

The spontaneous bug-suppression effort is very important, and part of pair
programming's full effect. I don't think it's transferable to review-last.

--
Phlip
http://www.greencheese.org/ZeekLand <-- NOT a blog!!!


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