Comment Re:Pair coding (Score 1) 520
Also with two people at the terminal, doesn't that means you've got twice as many people doing the same job as other companies?
Problem is, I write code maybe 2-4% of the time I am at the terminal. Other times I'm reading the code...Most of the time I'm doing other stuff...
I think you answered your own question without realizing it, but just in case I'll elaborate from what I know.
In paired coding, the coders take turns coding and watching/reading. Like you said, much of coding work isn't typing in the code itself. So having a pair of coders, with one watching, the other writing, and both reading code and thinking about it in the interim, you catch both syntax and logic errors as they happen which can save a lot of time later. Also thanks to an extra perspective, you can overcome mental roadblocks faster...unless you never, ever get stumped on how to approach a problem or implement anything.
There's also no Boolean rule going on here that states that just because two programmers work in a pair, that they also must use the same computer or spend 100% of their time at one person's computer all day or do nothing but focus on one person's code or work on the exact same part of a project. There's time to do all the other daily stuff that you mentioned, and time enough (5-10% of the daily time by your own estimation, times two, plus discussion/explanation time) even on busy days to watch each other code.