Understanding communication within pair programming

Abstract

Communication occurs constantly within a pair whilst they are programming. As examples, a navigator might grunt in approval to a new method the driver has just created, or the pair could have a long conversation discussing requirements and coding strategies. This paper presents a brief background study exploring communication within pair programming, and an investigation which results in the creation of a general analytic coding scheme for expert-expert pair programming. Finally, an experiment is detailed that aims to further explore this field.