So I have been working through the challenges on the freecodecamp website and one of the unique things that this site does is give you the chance to program with another person.

I am an introvert and if you were to ask me to pick up the phone and ring someone I will procrastinate a lot before doing it (if I do it at all), I also am not good at speaking with strangers but I have been enjoying the pair programming I have done so far.

I have only pair programmed a couple of times so far, so I am no expert. The first time was with someone from North America, it was weird to begin with talking to your computer and hearing an american voice respond, but you soon forget that as you concentrate on the problems you are working on.

The second time was with someone from the Netherlands. This time we tackled some trickier problems. Both times I took more of a back seat but I think contributed useful stuff and I certainly learnt a lot from the other person.

I think that is the key thing about pair programming, you learn so much about how to look at a problem from another angle, or learn about a function you haven’t heard of before. If you are reading this and it was you that I pair programmed with a big thank you for spending the time with me, I learnt a lot.

I was trying to pair program again tonight but technical problems prevented me. One problem I have found is finding a partner, was hoping to do some yesterday but no one else was around to partner with.

I would be interested to learn what companies use pair programming. I imagine a pointy haired boss would say why pay two people to do one job, when you could get them working on different things. However if you want to build up your team and give them loads more skills then pair programming would be great. I also think there are probably some problems that are crying out for pair programming.