Debate will, with no-doubt, make you better at pair programming, here’s how:

Throughout all of my childhood I’ve been encouraged to process my ideas, to share what I think with words, and I think that’s why I was interested in debate in the firs place.

But there’s more to that, debating, I learned to listen and remember what idea I had. When you debate, you usually have a limited time to express your next argument or invalidate your opponent’s, so you have to carefully think what your next words are going to be while the other side is speaking, which will obligate you to become a better listener.

When you pair-program, or even mob-program, there’s a good chance you will come up with a different solution than your partner for a specific issue, and that’s the point where most people suffer, but for a debater, that’s the moment to shine. You’d already know how to listen and articulate your next argument when you have your turn to speak, which speaking of, you already know you have to wait for your turn to speak.

One thing to look out is that you may, sometimes, fall in a loop where you keep searching for another argument instead of actually finding the answer for the issue, remember to stay in search of the truth in those scenarios, as sometimes we might lose the opportunity to use a great solution for our stubbornness.

This could teach us that, maybe, social skills, contrary to old programmer stigmas, are something we develop in our career path and that we will need to become better programmers. It is always a good idea to socialize and learn new things for your next group project!