Pair versus Solo Programming - An Experience Report from a Course on Design of Experiments in Software Engineering
This paper presents an experience report about an experiment that evaluates duration and effort of pair and solo programming. The experiment was performed as part of a course on Design of Experiments (DOE) in Software Engineering (SE) at Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY). A total of 21 junior student subjects enrolled in the bachelor\'s degree program in SE participated in the experiment. During the experiment, subjects (7 pairs and 7 solos) wrote two small programs in two sessions. Results show a significant difference (at alpha=0.1) in favor of pair programming regarding duration (28% decrease), and a significant difference (at alpha=0.1) in favor of solo programming with respect to effort (30% decrease). With only a difference of 1%, our results regarding duration and effort are practically the same as those reported by Nosek in 1998.
Keywords: Software Engineering, Pair Programming, Design of Experiments, Latin Square Design, Experimentation, Experience Report
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Omar S. Gómez
Omar S. Gómez received a BS degree in Computing from the University of Guadalajara (UdG), and a MS degree in Software Engineering from the Center for Mathematical Research (CIMAT), both in Mexico. Recently, he received a PhD degree in Software and Systems from the Technical University of Madrid (UPM). Currently he is a full time professor of Software Engineering at Mathematics Faculty of the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY). His main research interests include: Experimentation in software engineering, software process improvement and software architectures.
José L. Batún
José L. Batún received a BS degree in Mathematics from the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY). He received a MS degree and a PhD degree in Probability and Statistics, both, from the Center for Mathematical Research (CIMAT) in Guanajuato, Mexico. He is currently full time professor of Statistics at Mathematics Faculty of the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY). His research interests include: Multivariate statistical models, copulas, survival analysis, time series and their applications.
Raúl A. Aguilar
Raúl A. Aguilar was born in Telchac Pueblo, Mexico, in 1971. He received the BS degree in Computer Science from the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY) and a PhD degree (PhD European mention) at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM), Spain. Currently he is full time professor of software engineering at Mathematics Faculty of the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY). His main research interests include: Software engineering and computer science applied to education.
Omar S. Gómez
Omar S. Gómez received a BS degree in Computing from the University of Guadalajara (UdG), and a MS degree in Software Engineering from the Center for Mathematical Research (CIMAT), both in Mexico. Recently, he received a PhD degree in Software and Systems from the Technical University of Madrid (UPM). Currently he is a full time professor of Software Engineering at Mathematics Faculty of the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY). His main research interests include: Experimentation in software engineering, software process improvement and software architectures.
José L. Batún
José L. Batún received a BS degree in Mathematics from the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY). He received a MS degree and a PhD degree in Probability and Statistics, both, from the Center for Mathematical Research (CIMAT) in Guanajuato, Mexico. He is currently full time professor of Statistics at Mathematics Faculty of the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY). His research interests include: Multivariate statistical models, copulas, survival analysis, time series and their applications.
Raúl A. Aguilar
Raúl A. Aguilar was born in Telchac Pueblo, Mexico, in 1971. He received the BS degree in Computer Science from the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY) and a PhD degree (PhD European mention) at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM), Spain. Currently he is full time professor of software engineering at Mathematics Faculty of the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY). His main research interests include: Software engineering and computer science applied to education.
