[williamcotton]

With the right pair it is unbelievable how much productivity can be unleashed. I concur, it's much easier to stay focused on the task at hand with someone actively working on the same thing.

The reason why this didn't catch on is that it's almost like a Mick and Keith sort of relationship. You can't just take any two musicians and throw them together and get the Rolling Stones and the same thing applies to pair programming.

Take a look at Bell Labs during the birth of UNIX for an entire SWARM of interdependent engineers. There's more than just a small element of good fortune! It seems those people were almost meant for one another.

[MaxBarraclough]

> You can't just take any two musicians and throw them together and get the Rolling Stones and the same thing applies to pair programming.

I don't see that effective teamwork should necessarily depend on compatible personalities. I think the better comparison would be to surgery teams, or pilot crews, rather than art.