[nickbauman]

I've been pair programming off and on since the beginning of the century. You can get in the zone with a pair (if you're doing it right), but less often. I get a huge charge out of the highfive at the end of a task. And often I'm learning something new or was made to think about something from a different perspective. That could be the whole point of life itself. It's enormously satisfying.

But pair programming evens out the peaks (programming in the zone) and valleys (spinning your wheels) though so you have something close to a sustainable pace. The productivity and life of the entire team is much more important than the productivity of an individual on the team. Sometimes I spend an entire day helping someone else accomplish something instead of what I want to do. Sometimes it's the reverse. People come and go. The mission is larger and longer.