Ask HN: Would you like to join a mob programming group?

27 points by mac_was 3 years ago | 23 comments

I've been thinking of setting up a fully remote mob programming group and looking for a few people to join.

We could meet on zoom or use some other tool and tackle together some interesting issues from GitHub or pick an interesting project and work on it. I'm a full stack dev and that is a sort of project I'm interested in working on.

I'm UK based and would love to meet during the week after 8 PM as I have kids and want to put them to bed.

If you're interested reply with an email or ping me on telegram - username is mac_tele

Want the first meeting to happen next Thursday at 8:30 PM UK time

I'll set up a mailing group where we will agree on the tools to use and pick the first task to work on.

I'm not interested in opinions about mob programming, I have very positive experience with remote sessions :)

setr 3 years ago |

> I'm not interested in opinions about mob programming, I have very positive experience with remote sessions :)

Well, I am. Wtf is mob programming and who’s got hands-on-keyboard?

Pair programming makes sense because a discussion can be held — mob programming makes me imagine twitch plays Pokémon

mac_was 3 years ago | |

Sure, you can check out more here: https://www.remotemobprogramming.org/

Basically, one person writes the other discussion, and we switch every 20 minutes, so everybody can take part.

terminal_d 3 years ago | | |

> Typist and the Rest of the Mob

>We adopted the terminology from Code with the Wisdom of the Crowd by Mark Pearl:

>One person controls the keyboard, this is the typist. The rest of the mob discusses the problem, agrees on the solution, and instructs the typist. The typist follows their instructions, puts them into code, and may ask clarifying questions to understand the solution. The rest of the mob guides the typist as needed.

>We value the typist as they allow the rest of the mob to focus on solving the problem.

>The typist must not code on their own. This balances the participation of all team members and it reduces the dominance of strong characters.

That sounds horrible!

onionisafruit 3 years ago | | |

This sounds like a lot of fun for people who have personality traits I don’t posses. I think I would end up quietly stewing that I keep getting talked over and nobody listens to my ideas. Nevermind that my ideas turn out to be wrong in the end.

autotune 3 years ago | | |

It takes me 20 minutes just to stop being distracted and focus on the task at hand.

fragmede 3 years ago | |

which, if you don't remember

> This run was beaten by the TPP community on March 1st, 2014 with the defeat of the Elite Four and rival Blue.

seems like a wonderful weird experiment to run!

https://helixpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Gen_1_(Pokemon_Red)

pablo24602 3 years ago |

Very interesting concept, as I understand it from the material on https://www.remotemobprogramming.org/.

From the name "mob programming" I thought it was something more akin to those mob dances- ie. a large group of technically savvy people organize around an issue and focus their willpower on it for a few hours (like, from 6-9 PM on a random Saturday, 50 programmers coordinate solve all the open issues on a random open source project, out of nowhere.)

mac_was 3 years ago | |

I think it's a very interesting concept, comparable to brainstorming. Devs share lots of knowledge during sessions and learn from each other ways of solving issues. I thought about it more as a learning exercise.

sdwr 3 years ago | |

Your idea sounds great, like a programming speedrun.

culopatin 3 years ago |

Would you accept having a fly in the wall? Doesn’t help you at all, but helps me tremendously!Can’t think of any better way to experience a bunch of “ooooh that’s how you do that” moments. As a solo programmer without formal education I often wonder how could I do X better

deterministic 3 years ago |

Mob programming seems to be a super inefficient way to develop software. Basically programming by committee?

mac_was 3 years ago | |

It's like saying basketball is inefficient, when I pass the ball to a team mate I can loose it, better if I run the whole field on my own. Programming is mostly a team sport as well, involving backend and frontend engineers, qa, design, product owners.

gameman144 3 years ago | | |

> It's like saying basketball is inefficient

I mean, I would say basketball is inefficient: having one person run the ball or maybe two reliable players pass it across the whole court definitely seems most efficient.

The only twist in basketball is that there's another team trying to stop you from achieving your goal (which would also add to the appeal of mob programming greatly!)

mikewarot 3 years ago |

This is my first hearing of the concept. I'm not sure I'd have anything to add, as I've only programmed solo, with most of that being in the 1980s with DOS and early windows.

mac_was 3 years ago | |

I think everybody has got something to add. It is a bit of a social exercise where people share how they think, how they solve problems

moralestapia 3 years ago |

It sounds fun, I'd like to give it a try to see what it's like (mail in profile).

ushercakes 3 years ago |

I would be interested in watching recorded YouTube sessions of this, to see how it works

Metalic 3 years ago |

Sound like an interesting concept, count me in, see email in my profile.

bsldld 3 years ago |

I am interested, but initially could I participate just as an observer?

cowboynwf 3 years ago |

I'm totally down. I'm a verse developer.

mac_was 3 years ago | |

Hey, can you drop me a line on telegram or leave your email? I'll send you an invite to our discord server

mr_o47 3 years ago |

How can we get involved

mac_was 3 years ago | |

Hey, can you drop me a line on telegram or leave your email? I'll send you an invite to our discord server