Two heads are better than one!
Why should you pair and give feedback?
30/11/2014
While it is true that some people work better alone, it's safe to assume that most people would benefit from working in pairs! When pairing you reduce the chances of making typos or small mistakes and most likely improve the quality of your code at the same time. During a pairing session, there's usually a driver and a navigator. The driver will be the one typing most of the code, while the navigator will be the one giving instrutions and checking for logic and syntax errors. The driver can give input and discuss with the navigator but he should be mostly working on the code. This divides the work so each member can focus on its job.
So far pairing has been great, I learned and taught lots of new and useful stuff that I probably wouldn't find anytime soon. Everybody I worked with had a positive and fun attitude which helps break the ice and makes life easier. Before each session I am always a little worried about a possible big knowledge discrepancy that could make the session hard or awkward. So far everybody seems to be on track and on similar levels though, which is great because it's so much fun coming up with solutions and discussing the best approaches with a peer.
When it comes to feedback, I found that I have a hard time giving feedback because I am affraid people will take it personally. I still have a long way to go before I can be certain I am providing quality feedback. Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I don't and sometimes I don't even know. I have been told before that I should be more sensible when approaching people and I am trying to improve on this aspect.
So far I am happy with the feedback I received, yet again I am seeing that I should be more sensible and aware of my peers, sometimes I struggle to find a good pace for my pair. The feedbacks I am receiving seem to be getting better so I think I am improving. Only time will tell!
