Pair programming is a common practice in the technology industry. It involves two people working together on a piece of code or problem with the aim of sharing knowledge and streamlining the development process.
Development is not an individual activity. You will often find yourself as part of a team working on a few specific features that are part of a larger application or tool. That team is one of many working on a larger product within a company. You will need to coordinate with others, on your team AND on other teams, to keep projects on track. This might mean making design decisions together, helping each other overcome roadblocks or unforseen setbacks and testing to ensure the final product is something the company can feel confident about releasing.
Practicing pair programming early and often will help you develop these skills used almost daily on the job. And the more you talk about your code, the easier it will be to do similar exercises in interviews once you start the job search!
You should have received a detailed overview of how these pair programming sessions will be structured. The key pieces to remember are:
- Each participant will begin the session as a driver or navigator
- Both participants should be communicating and working to solve the challenge collaboratively
- Participants will switch roles at the halfway point (after about 10 minutes)