Rod Hilton at Absolutely No Machete Juggling has written a neat essay about pair programming from an in-the-trenches perspective. If you've been skeptical about pairing, take a look. It's not a sales job; it's the experience of someone who programs for a living. Worth reading.

Here's an excerpt:

The biggest challenge for me personally was essentially mourning for the death of "Programmer Man". Programmer Man is how I think of myself when I've got my headphones in, speed metal blaring in my ears, and I'm coding like a motherfucker. My fingers can't keep up with my brain. I'm In The Zone. For most of my career, this image is what I've considered to be the zenith. When I come home and was in Programmer Man Mode most of the day, I feel like I've had a good day.

Pair Programming undeniably killed Programmer Man. This was a tough adjustment, since I've considered that mode to be my favorite for so long. I now see, however, that Programmer Man was, without me knowing it, Technical Debt Man.

Read the whole essay here.

(Now I have the Spiderman theme running through my head. "Programmer Man, Programmer Man, writes the code, no one can; slams out debt, no one buys; watches the code grow in size. Look Out! Here comes the Programmer Man!")