Observations on Knowledge Transfer of Professional Software Developers during Pair Programming

Abstract

This work was presented at the 38th International Conference on Software Engineering (2016). Context: Software development is knowledge-intense work, and so is pair programming. However, the importance of knowledge transfer in pair programming is usually only stressed for expert-novice constellations and not for general software development situations. Goal: Understand how pair programmers deal with their knowledge deficits and eventually provide guidance for practitioners. Method: Detailed qualitative data analysis of full-length recordings of industrial pair programming sessions. Results: Expert software developers need to transfer knowledge, too, in order to conduct productive pair programming sessions. There is a diversity of beneficial and potentially problematic patterns, which even good pairs do not steadily apply or avoid, respectively. Conclusions: Pair programming is a versatile practice that even experts can profit from. Knowledge transfer skills do not automatically emerge from good software development skills, but can probably be learned.