Not in code

It�s been a month since my last post & 3 weeks since I started at IBS, probably time I posted something about how it�s been so far. So firstly � I�m lovin� it! We�re into our second iteration since I started and the last MXPEG meeting was hosted at our office. Steve Hayes ran an interesting exercise on how distance in communication affects outcomes.

I think it�s always tough being the newest member of a team but this hasn�t really been an issue for me at IBS. I think their(our?) culture of learning(we have a study group each Friday) and the fact that this is an XP team really helps.

One particular XP practice has helped me a lot initially � pair programming.

I was pairing on my second day, and it was great! Pair programming really seems like a great, unintimidating way to get new developers adding value early. It�s probably a bit more like mentoring initially, though I think a good analogy is a new navigator in a rally car. He or she is still a navigator, even if the drivers more familiar with the circuit (and vice versa if they were a new driver). My point being that even as the newer member of the pair you�re still adding some value. Though the more experienced member of the pair carries more of the load initially, compare this is to the alternative � a the catch-22 situation with the existing team member too busy doing �actual work� to teach the new team member to do these same things and therefore alleviate this load. And since logically you would hire new people when your existing team is under the pump, this probably quite a common situation in non-XP teams that are growing rapidly.

I think that pair programming is a huge advantage that XP teams have over teams that follow more a traditional methodology or maybe none at all! With a more traditional methodology you might expect a new team member to add value only after going through several hundred(thousand?) pages of documentation and spending weeks simply learning about the system they will be working with, without adding any direct value.

In my own experience (as a new team member and watching other new members join past teams) the first few weeks and sometimes even months can be a very frustrating experience. You�re not familiar with the code you�re working with, you�re constantly interrupting the people who are while they�re trying to get their work done. All this leaves you feeling like you�re more of a burden than a help which can be quite demoralising and I feel an inefficient way to go about things.

Some teams/companies choose to wear this, perhaps seeing it as a necessary evil. I disagree. There is something that can be done and this has been demonstrated by my own experiences with pair programming in XP.