Search and Research on Economics of Pair Programming

ABSTRACT

This research aims to answer two research questions. Is pair programming more cost-effective than solo programming? In what situations is pair programming more cost-effective than solo programming and vice versa? In order to answer these, we adopted and extended economic models from past research. Two main conclusions can be drawn from our study. First, across the ranges of parameters studied, pair programming is more economically feasible only in a limited number of instances. Second, in order to achieve the economic benefit, pair programming either needs to have advantages in all three parameters (speed, defect, and defect removing) or have substantial advantages in two of them if on the other one pair is roughly equivalent to solo programming. We also identified specific parameter ranges for situations where a) pair programming is more economical, b) solo programming is more economical, and c) the two programming methods are equivalent. Implications of this research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Breakeven unit value
• net present value
• pair programming
• solo programming