https://medium.com/@asciamanna/ping-pong-pair-programming-cf994a9981a4

The most effective form of pair programming I’ve experienced is called Ping Pong Pair Programming. I find it so effective that I prefer not to pair at all if I cannot ping pong program. The majority of development teams I’ve encountered who occasionally pair program don’t practice ping pong pair programming. They view “pairing” as one developer taking a much more passive role. I suspect these teams would enjoy pair programming more and identify its benefits if they tried ping pong pairing.

I’ve read about Ping Pong Pair Programming as far back as 2002. However, I didn’t begin to practice it until I joined an eXtreme Programming (XP) team. I quickly took to the practice, finding it incredibly engaging and enjoyable. As someone who values collaborating with other developers this was collaboration at a level I had not previously experienced. Furthermore, this constant and close collaboration built a camaraderie with a team of developers which I have not been able to replicate since. There are about eight to ten developers with whom I’ve worked that I feel an incredible bond with as a result of constant pair programming over a significant period of time. These are folks I would jump at the chance to work with again.