Hands down, pair programming is one of the most valuable agile techniques, but at the same it is one of the most controversial because it can be a tough sell to a manager or non-technical stakeholder. At face value, two developers and one keyboard sounds like a perfect recipe for double the cost. The problem with that equation is it naively assumes that value is limited to the speed at which developers type, and that adding a second developer won’t do any good unless he also has a keyboard to pound on. In reality though, pair programming helps agile teams solve difficult problems quicker as well as help keep your team up-to-date on the latest business and technical knowledge. I want to give you the arguments to use to quell those management fears and allow you to get all the benefits of pair programming for your agile team. Read the rest of this entry »