A Getting Starting Guide: How to Find a Partner to Pair Program
Pair programming — an agile software development technique in which two programmers work together at one workstation. One, the driver, writes code while the other, the observer or navigator, reviews each line of code as it is typed in. The two programmers switch roles frequently.
You’ve decided you want to try out pair programming, but you’re not sure where to start or who to ask. You’re still new at this whole coding thing and none of your friends know how to code or code at your level.
Not to worry! Below is a comprehensive guide to getting you a partner to start pair programming.
If you’d rather find a partner faster than the process outlined below, The Bit is a platform that can help you find a partner for pair-programming in a matter of minutes.
1. Start by deciding what programming skills you want to learn.
If you don’t know what skill you want to learn, first determine what type of project interests you and then find out what skills are required to build that project.
Example: A digital marketer wants to learn how to build a custom website, so she starts with learning HTML/CSS.
2. Find an online tutorial or course that you’d like to take to learn the programming skills identified in step 1.
A simple search will deliver you thousands of tutorials and courses to choose from. If you don’t know which one is best for you, look for tutorials and courses from trusted brands with good ratings.
Example: Our digital marketer finds the free Codecademy course for “How to Build a Website with a four-star rating”.
3. Use the template below to find a pair programming partner online.
To find a partner online, you can use a variety of platforms. Not surprisingly, the easiest platform to find a partner is on social media. To increase your success rate of finding a partner, try posting in large groups with similar-minded individuals.
Example: Digital marketer posts in a marketing group on Facebook to see if anyone else wants to learn how to build a website.
Below is a template that you can use to recruit a partner.
“Hello, my name is Jane and I’m a digital marketer at Facebook looking to learn HTML/CSS. If you’re also a beginner looking to learn HTML/CSS, I’d love to pair program a tutorial with you. I’ve already found a great tutorial from Codecademy called How to Build a Website that I think could be a good fit for a team of beginners to tackle. If this is something you are interested in, feel free to shoot me a direct message!”
If you're still struggling to find a partner, keep in mind that The Bit can match you with a partner for free at any time.
4. Get started pair programming
Congrats you’ve found a partner! Now that you’ve found a partner, use this guide on Getting Started with Remote Pair Programming using VSCode.
