Subj : Re: extreme programming (thoughts)
To   : comp.programming
From : Phlip
Date : Mon Jul 25 2005 05:32 pm

wee wrote;

> > In software, it's okay if _inspiration_ happens in isolation.
Implementation
> > should not.
>
> It's strange that you say "it's okay", as if to specify where thinking
> is supposed to take place in the XP world.

One myth about XP is everyone does everything in pairs. Someone recently
asked something like, "When I'm working on a hard problem I don't like
someone looking over my shoulder. Do I have to?"

Pairing is an alternative kind of mental flow that must be learned. Then
it's supportive, not nagging.

Even after you learn that, sometimes when you work on a hard problem you
should solo. Then trivially port the result of your inspiration back to the
project's codebase using TDD and pairing.

> Is the future of XP
> non-human automation (i.e., humans create the idea, then set the
> computer to generating the code)?

That would seem to be the _past_ of programming in _general_. We no longer
all write Assembly.

> Are you an XP programmer currently?

From the Nirvana point of view? Of course not! ;-)

But see below.

-- 
  Phlip
  http://flea.sourceforge.net/resume.html

.