Design Documents vs Pair Programming

Developers should create design documents for complex features, new systems, or major refactors to reduce ambiguity, catch design flaws early, and facilitate team reviews meets developers should use pair programming to enhance code quality, reduce bugs, and facilitate knowledge sharing within teams. Here's our take.

Design Documents

Nice Pick

Developers should create design documents for complex features, new systems, or major refactors to reduce ambiguity, catch design flaws early, and facilitate team reviews

Pros

• They are essential in distributed teams, large-scale projects, or when onboarding new members, as they document decisions and provide a reference for implementation and maintenance
• Related to: system-design, software-architecture

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Pair Programming

Developers should use pair programming to enhance code quality, reduce bugs, and facilitate knowledge sharing within teams

Pros

• It is particularly valuable for complex problem-solving, onboarding new developers, and tackling critical features where collaboration can prevent errors and improve design decisions
• Related to: agile-methodology, extreme-programming

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

Use Design Documents if: You want they are essential in distributed teams, large-scale projects, or when onboarding new members, as they document decisions and provide a reference for implementation and maintenance and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.

Use Pair Programming if: You prioritize it is particularly valuable for complex problem-solving, onboarding new developers, and tackling critical features where collaboration can prevent errors and improve design decisions over what Design Documents offers.

The Bottom Line

Design Documents wins

Developers should create design documents for complex features, new systems, or major refactors to reduce ambiguity, catch design flaws early, and facilitate team reviews