Heterogeneous and homogenous pairs in pair programming: an empirical analysis

Extreme programming (XP) is causing a lot of hype currently. Pair programming is one of its practices, where two programmers work collaboratively at one computer on the same design, algorithm, code, or test. The purpose of this technique is to produce higher quality code in less time. The collaborative working of two brains is better than one as long as both are actively trying to accomplish the same goal. It depends on many things, such as creativity, productivity and brainstorming which are the essential factors of the programming activity. The existence of these factors can vary in homogenous and heterogeneous pairs, so the functional brainstorming capability of different pairs during programming may vary in terms of quality, accuracy and speed. This paper presents the empirical analysis between the homogenous and heterogeneous pairs in terms of efficiency, accuracy, quality, quantity of bugs, brainstorming performance and creativity potential during programming activity.