Working toward Optimal Pair Programming Management and Environment

The success of the Agile Development Methodologies largely lies on its driver, humans. The pair programming which is the popular unorthodox programming practice, continues to establish itself and being the emerging topic in the software community. Along with its well published benefits, there appears to be a room for improvement. A field survey with a group of experienced professional pair programmers was undertaken. The survey result generated an array of vivid first-hand pair programming encounters that are uncommonly found in many pre-designed lab-controlled empirical studies. The survey result points to the personality variable as the most influencing variable, and also raised few questions on today’s pair programming management and environment. Through the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Big-Five Model of personality profile assessments, the role and impact of personality variable is presented and discussed with the respect to the pair programming and other similar dyad team collaboration environments with cognitively conflicting tasks. This effort to better manage the pair programming session and optimize the pair programming environment to high fidelity, and other significant agile methodologies studies must continue in order to sustain and embrace the values of Agile Manifesto.