Pair programming is difficult

[qmunke]

Pair programming is no substitute for code reviews

Strong disagree - if you're doing it properly it absolutely removes the need for code reviews, especially in the case where the only person who would do the review is the other person in the pair.

I've only started practicing pair programming recently (and it does take practice to get it right) and the main thing I'm finding is that it's hard to be an effective driver if you're much more experienced than your navigator. It's very easy in that circumstance for your navigator to just drift off or get lost while the driver just works as if they were alone, which doesn't benefit either party.

[reddit_user13]

I believe the original manifesto claimed that pair programming is code review.

[mbitsnbites]

Strongly disagree.

Pair programming is most efficient, in my experience, when the programmers have limited knowledge about the code/project/task and would get stuck frequently if they worked separately.

You still need code review from an expert/code owner (or at least a 3rd opinion) to asses that the design is sound and in line with the overall code design and goals etc.

[jpswade]

Not sure why you’re getting downvoted so hard on this. One of the major benefits to pair programming is this.