Pair programming and the re-appropriation of individual tools for collaborative software development

Although pair programming is becoming more prevalent in software development, and a number of reports have been written about it [10] [13], few have addressed the manner in which pairing actually takes place [12]. Even fewer consider the methods used to manage issues such as role change or the communication of complex issues. This paper highlights the way resources designed for individuals are re-appropriated and augmented by pair programmers to facilitate collaboration. It also illustrates that pair verbalisations can augment the benefits of the collocated team, providing examples from ethnographic studies of pair programmers 'in the wild'

Can We Work Together?

People have a versatility to adapt to various situations in order to communicate with each other regardless of a person's disability. We research separate computer interfaces to support remote synchronous collaboration in two situations. First, a deaf person collaborating with a hearing person uses a shared workspace with video conferencing, such as the Facetop system. Second, a blind person collaborating with a sighted person uses our loosely coupled custom shared workspace called Deep View. The design features of the respective interfaces accommodate the disability of a deaf person or a blind person and enable communication with a person without a disability. The interfaces expand the ways in which people with disabilities participate in a collaborative task to a level of detail not possible without our interfaces. The design features of our user interfaces provide alternative channels for the collaborators with disabilities to communicate ideas or coordinate actions that collaborators without disabilities would otherwise do verbally or visually. We evaluate the interfaces through three user studies where collaborators complete full fledged tasks that require managing all aspects of communication to complete the task. Throughout the research we collaborated with members of the Deaf community and members of the blind community. We incorporated the feedback from members of these communities into the implementation of our interfaces. The members participated in our user studies to evaluate the interfaces

Better, Not More Expensive, Faster? The Perceived Effects of Pair Programming in Survey Data

There are many different techniques used with agile software development methods. Some of these, such as common coding guidelines and test driven development, are widely adopted and there appears to be a consensus that they can be beneficial. Others, however, are more controversial, none more so perhaps than pair programming. This technique meets resistance both from developers, who do not always wish to program with another person, and from managers, who see the sharing of a workstation as a potential barrier to programmer productivity. Its supporters, however, claim that it can have many benefits, in particular improving software quality. In this paper we look at the outcomes of previous research into the effects of pair programming and analyse some survey data to see how practitioners perceive its potential benefits for project outcomes in terms of quality, productivity, stakeholder satisfaction and cost. We conclude that the survey data appears to reinforce many of the previous claims made for the benefits of pair programming, but also raises questions that need further investigation

Personality and Pair Programming : How do Pair Programmers Collaborate?

For å undersøke samarbeidet i parprogrammering kodet vi 44 lydopptak av parprogrammering. Vi delte lydfilene inn i segmenter og tildelte hvert segment til kategorier som vi valgte ut av en samling kategorier som vi hadde utviklet spesielt for dette formålet. Etter å ha kodet lydfilene, utførte jeg en litteraturgjennomgang. Jeg formulerte deretter forslag til mulige forhold mellom parprogrammerernes personlighet og samarbeidsformen deres under parprogrammeringen. Jeg foretok deretter en statistisk analyse for å undersøke disse forholdene. De fleste av mine forslag til forhold fant jeg ingen støtte for gjennom analysen. Mine viktigste forholdsforslag ble imidlertid støttet av analysen. Mitt aller viktigste forholdsforslag undersøkte hvorvidt personlighet hadde noen som helst innflytelse på samarbeidet involvert i parprogrammering. Analysen for dette forholdsforslaget viste at nesten alle personlighetsfaktorene påvirket forekomsten av minst én samarbeidskategori. Et annet viktig forholdsforslag, og det som var i størst grad basert på tidligere funn fra litteraturen jeg gjennomgikk, viste seg også å være støttet av analysen. Par som består av to personer med store personlighetsforskjeller vil kommunisere mer enn parene der de to programmererne er mer like hverandre. Imidlertid så vi at personlighetsfaktorforskjeller påvirket forholdet forskjellig avhengig av hvilken personlighetsfaktor det gjaldt. En høy forskjell i hvert eneste av personlighetsmålene vi brukte, vil derfor ikke nødvendigvis være bra for samarbeidet. Alt i alt er det klart at personligheten til de to parprogrammererne vil ha en signifikant påvirkning på samarbeidet i parprogrammeringen, men inntil videre er de forskjellige samarbeidstypenes påvirkning på parprogrammerernes programmeringsytelse ikke like grundig undersøkt, og det vil være et interessant område for videre forskning. Analyseresultatene for flere av forholdsforslagene var ikke-signifikante, men lovende. Disse kan muligens bli bevist eller avkreftet ved analyser senere med en større samplingsstørrelse

Support for Distributed Pair Programming in the Transparent Video Facetop

Abstract. The Transparent Video Facetop is a novel user interface concept that supports not only single-user interactions with a PC, but also close pair collaborations, such as that found in collaborative Web browsing, remote medicine, and in distributed pair programming. In this paper we discuss the use of a novel video-based UI called the Facetop [16] for solving several problems reported to us by teams doing distributed pair programming. Specifically, the Facetop allows a distributed pair to recapture some the facial expressions and face-to-face communications contact lost in earlier distributed sessions. It also allows members of a distributed pair to point conveniently, quickly, and naturally to their shared work, in the same manner (manually) that they do when seated side-by-side. Our results enhance the ability of organizations to do effective XP-style agile development with distributed teams. 1 Distributed Pair Programming Previous research [17,19] has indicated that pair programming is better than individual programming in a co-located environment. Do these results also apply to distributed pairs? I

Abstract Support for Distributed Pair Programming in the Transparent Video Facetop

The Transparent Video Facetop is a novel user interface concept that supports not only single-user interactions with a PC, but also close pair collaborations, such as that found in collaborative Web browsing, remote medicine, and in distributed pair programming. We recently demonstrated the Vis-a-Vid Facetop prototype as a single-user GUI for manipulating the elements of a traditional WIMP desktop [16]. In this paper we discuss the use of the Facetop for solving several problems reported to us by teams doing distributed pair programming. Specifically, the Facetop allows a distributed pair to recapture some the facial expressions and face-to-face communications contact lost in earlier distributed sessions. It also allows members of a distributed pair to point conveniently, quickly, and naturally to their shared work, in the same manner (manually) that they do when seated side-by-side. Our results enhance the ability of organizations to do effective XP-style agile developmen