Re: Agile Development, Anyone?

I really meant ego in the sense of being open to doing something in a
different way, or listening to a different approach, or even being
able to accept that their might be a bug in your code. A strong ago is
not an impediment to this, it's probably a virtue.

I also happen to think bringing some ego to the table is a good thing.

On Wed, Aug 31, 2011 at 8:45 AM, Joe Pluta <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 8/30/2011 2:53 PM, Evan Harris wrote:

I think it's a challenging concept and would be really interested in
trying it. I think one of the biggest hurdles would be that it
requires people to really put aside their egos when coding.

Interesting.  I've been thinking about this, and maybe this is part of
what I don't like.  Personally, I don't want to put my ego aside when I
program.  Yes, I need to follow standards whenever appropriate (which is
a lot of the time) but I also want to be able to move in a direction
that makes sense at the time.  I might make the code better, or more
maintainable.  Or this may be a one-off program, and it will allow me to
try some new techniques.

And then there are times when I just go with my gut for reasons I can't
even explain but which become clearer after I get more into the
program.  Of course, sometimes those gut hunches go awry and I have to
remove something, but that should be my prerogative, and that sort of
experimentation seems almost certainly to be diminished in a pair
programming environment.  Well, unless you have TWO experimenters in a
pair, at which point you are going to get some really interesting code.

Anyway, I just wanted to talk this through.  A lot of my concern with
and pushback against formal pair programming is probably because I don't
think it will make me any faster or better, and a lot of that is my ego
talking.  But then again, it ain't braggin' if you can do it... :)

Joe