Pair Programming in Boston
September 22nd, 2009
Obie Fernandez blogged about pair programming today in response to a recent New York Times article that featured well known DevChix, Desi McAdam.
I’ve always worked very closely with my colleagues, and I’ve always wanted to try pair programming. After reading Obie’s article I start to understand why I haven’t had much success pushing this idea with employers. But as I was reading, I was reminded about how awesome the concept truly is.
This October, I’m putting together an event at the Berkman Center. I’m working with the RailsBridge folks to create a free ruby on rails one day bootcamp for women to encourage women developers.
Going forward, I was hoping to bring these women together monthly to contribute to open source because I was inspired by a brilliant keynote talk by Kirrily Robert. And I’m thinking about encouraging our newbies to pair with experienced programmers.
I can’t think of a better way to get up to speed quickly than mentoring in this way. While I can’t invest in the right hardware, I figure there’s still a lot to be gained from working on one laptop for an hour.
Are there any other events in Boston where folks pair? How easy it is for a newbie to jump in and join in the fun at these local hackfests? Since I’ve been in maternity land for the last two years, I haven’t had the opportunity to get involved with the Boston rb community as much as I’d like.
Anyone got any insight into the local Boston events? Anyone pair program in their current work environment?
Entry Filed under: Personal, Ruby on Rails
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1. Carlisia | September 28th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Liana,
I have pair programmed at work and liked it a lot. But I have met people who do not like it at all, and I think it cannot be a good thing to have a overall policy that would force people that don’t like it to do it. You’re not saying that, but I wanted to mention it. Thoughtbot hosts a hackfast where people pair program. As expected, it is totally male dominated. That doesn’t intimidate me as much as the level of talent that show up.
2. lianaleahy | September 29th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Hi Carlisia,
I totally get what you’re saying. I doubt we’d force anyone who doesn’t like to pair. But for those who are interested, I think it would be a great mentoring opportunity. Usually folks try to pair up based on similar experience levels. And certainly if newbies want to pair up and learn together, that’s great. But personally, I have always wanted to work with a rockstar and get some tips. Which is why I’d like to create an event where the norm is that newbies work with rockstars to improve their skills and to encourage mixed gender development environments.
But yes, I too have always felt intimidated to go to local hackfests because I feel like I’m not knowledgeable enough to representative my gender (http://xkcd.com/385/). But how the hell are we supposed to get any better or rather confident of our skills if we don’t go to these things?
3. Carlisia | October 3rd, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Speaking frankly, I would not think you should refrain from going to a hackfest because of your perception of not being knowledgeable enough. First of all, you clearly are, even from just reading your blog one could tell. Second, even if you weren’t, the purpose of the hackfast is so everyone can improve from where they are. You would better represent our gender by going than not.