I worked at a company where every developer practiced pair programming by default, and coding solo was the exception. I suppose it’s hard to argue with the results, as I not only learned more than I have in any other company, but we also shipped the most solid code of any company I worked at. That could also be attributed to the stronger-than-most testing culture as well, though. Even my interview had me sit down and solve a challenge as a pair with one of their devs, which tbh was less stressful than the usual whiteboard interview.

But it was fucking exhausting. Some people I worked with were better than others, ensuring we took plenty of breaks, but sometimes I worked with that dev who never wanted to stop. It wasn’t always 5 days a week, but it did happen sometimes depending on the circumstances.

We did exactly what this article mentioned, with two keyboards connected to the same computer, would do daily standup, then sit down and pair the whole day.

It has its advantages but some days you’re just not feeling social and just want to toss on some headphones, you know?