Extreme Programming Refactored: The Case Against XP
Overview
Your Pair Will Hold Your Hand
(Sing to the tune of I Want to Hold Your Hand by The Beatles)
When you re coding something That you don t understand
You don t Have to worry
Your pair will hold your hand Your pair will hold your hand Your pair will hold your hand
And when you re coding you feel happy inside The joy of coding is just one you can t hide
People say We need requirements They always make a fuss We think That requirements Should be in C Plus Plus Should be in C Plus Plus
And when you re coding you feel happy inside The joy of coding is just one you can t hide
When you re unit testing And you find a bug You don t have to feel bad Your pair will give you a hug
Your pair will give you a hug And when you re coding you feel happy inside The joy of coding is just one you can t hide
| Karl Marx | The only constraint that XP puts on you is that any production code has be [sic] written by a pair. Your preferences and comfort do not supercede the delivery of quality to the project, or your parcitipation [sic] in the team . [1] ”Robert C. Martin |
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In reality, it fosters a stinky noisy room and a headache . [2] ”Anonymous XPer
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| GROUCHO | I think maybe concentration is the enemy. Seriously. If you re working on something that is so complex that you actually need to concentrate, there s too much chance that it s too hard. [3] ”Ron Jeffries |
Pair programming is one of the most controversial aspects of XP, and it presents some of the most amusing scenarios, some of which have even appeared in the Dilbert comic strip. [4] In this chapter we examine some of the claims that have been made about this practice, including those from Laurie Williams book Pair Programming Illuminated . We also share with you some eye-opening real-world eXPeriences from our correspondents in the field.
[1] Robert C. Martin posting to the newsgroup comp.object, subject: Pair Programming ”Yuck! October 28, 2001.
[2] Anonymous XPer, see the Voice of eXPerience: Tales from the Front Line sidebar in Chapter 4.
[3] Ron Jeffries, posting to the C2 Wiki page Pair Programming Ergonomics, http://c2.com/cgi-bin/wiki?PairProgrammingErgonomics .
[4] See http://www.dilbert.com .