[cburgmer]

I disagree with what I think this picture implies. That is shielding the developer from interaction makes him/her more productive. In contrary, interruption and conversation belong to development. The more my fellow developer colleagues talk, the better the code base is.

[pwelch]

Yes and no. Yes, talking can help bring a lot of people to a solution easier. Taking a coffee break and chatting with a co-worker about your current problem or pairing with another set of eyes is often vary helpful.

However, when you are really focused on a complicated problem it is hard to find a solution when your thought process is constantly interrupted.

[ygra]

My colleague (the one who talks the most) talks mainly about what has happened at his home, in his life, with his car, with his cat, with his child, ... I doubt there is an inherent code quality benefit in those topics.

[brianfryer]

There needs to be a distinct separation of Exploration mode and Implementation mode. This comic depicts a programmer in the latter mode where "collaboration" can be detrimental.

Exploration mode is crucial to the development workflow. It's a space where there isn't "right" or "wrong" and creatively constructive conversations can occur.

You're absolutely right that conversation belongs in development. But only at the right time for the highest effectiveness.

[shortlived]

Yes but it has to be at a time chosen by the programmer. There are natural stopping points when working on hard problems.