[palmotea]

> You are exactly correct. As to why it’s unpopular, I believe it’s just that no one has given it a fair try. Once you have done it for at least 20 hours a week for a few weeks you will understand that typing is not and has never been the bottleneck in programming. If you have not tried it then you cannot have an opinion.

I haven't tried pair programming except in very ad-hoc situations, but doing it all the time sounds utterly exhausting. You're taking programming, then layering on top of it a level of constant social interaction over it, and removing the autonomy to just zone out a bit when you need to (to manage stress).

Basically, it sounds like turning programming into an all-day meeting.

So I think it's probably unpopular because most software engineers don't have the personalty to enjoy or even tolerate that environment.

[genthree]

Yeah, I’d have a mental breakdown within weeks if I had to pair more than an hour a day, max (even that much, consistently, would probably harm my quality of life quite a bit—a little every now and then is no big deal, though). No exaggeration, it’d break me in ways that’d take a while to fix.

[edit] I’m not even anti-social, but the feeling of being watched while working is extremely draining. An hour of that is like four hours without it.

[sodapopcan]

Well as the person you are replying to said, it's hard to have an opinion when you haven't actually tried it. I don't find it like that at all. Also, it doesn't mean you get NO solo time. Pairs can decide to break up for a bit and of course sometimes people aren't in leaving your team with an odd number of people, so some _has_ to solo (though sometimes we'd triple!)

But it's something you have to work at which is definitely part of the barrier. Otherwise, saying it sucks without giving it a real try is akin to saying, "I went for a run and didn't lose any weight so I feel that running is exhausting with no benefit."

[palmotea]

> Well as the person you are replying to said, it's hard to have an opinion when you haven't actually tried it. I don't find it like that at all.

I don't need to try pair programming because I know how that level of constant social interaction makes me feel.

> Otherwise, saying it sucks without giving it a real try is akin to saying, "I went for a run and didn't lose any weight so I feel that running is exhausting with no benefit."

No, what you're doing is sort of like if you're raving about the beach, and I say I don't like bright sun, and you insist I need to try the beach to have an opinion on if I like it or not.

[sodapopcan]

I wouldn't call "work" social interaction but I get ya. It's my biggest pet peeve of this industry: it has a whole lot of people who just don't want to talk to anyone. It is what it is, though.

[palmotea]

> I wouldn't call "work" social interaction but I get ya.

IMHO, social interaction is anything where you interact with other people.

> It's my biggest pet peeve of this industry: it has a whole lot of people who just don't want to talk to anyone.

That's very black and white thinking. I like talking to other people, but too much of it is draining. Every day spending all-day or even a half-day working directly with someone else? No thanks.

[sodapopcan]

It's not black and white because that is my whole point: you have to push through the terribleness at the beginning to start feeling the benefits, and most people aren't willing to. I'm a _massive_ introvert myself, btw. But like, I'm not trying to convince you of anything.