When studies show pair programming is less efficient than individual programming for senior developers, and a wash for intermediate developers, I have to assume this is a crutch for a room full of junior/poorly-skilled developers who are helping each other get work done.
Put me with a junior developer to just "pair program" and I'll be doing all the work. I've done this before as a training exercise; I think in about 12-16 sessions, each from 2 to 4 hours, the person I was paired with made one suggestion. And I still wasn't 100% efficient because I stopped a lot to explain what I was doing.
Put me in a mob programming environment with junior developers and it will be spectator programming, or I'll be wasting time "navigating" for a junior developer and cutting my productivity by 80%. I can't help but think that even teaching could be done better than that. (For reference, the person I paired with above insisted that it was extremely helpful and educational, even though it seemed hard for me to believe.)
Put me with a junior developer to just "pair program" and I'll be doing all the work. I've done this before as a training exercise; I think in about 12-16 sessions, each from 2 to 4 hours, the person I was paired with made one suggestion. And I still wasn't 100% efficient because I stopped a lot to explain what I was doing.
Put me in a mob programming environment with junior developers and it will be spectator programming, or I'll be wasting time "navigating" for a junior developer and cutting my productivity by 80%. I can't help but think that even teaching could be done better than that. (For reference, the person I paired with above insisted that it was extremely helpful and educational, even though it seemed hard for me to believe.)