Every developer has had those moments where you get into the zone and you just go, flying through your code and feeling like you are invincible. At the same time though, every developer has also had those moments where you are stuck on this one problem and everything you try just either doesn't work or would require reworking everything. It's in those times where just being able to talk to someone else can actually make things suddenly much clearer.

Besides the obvious where the person you ask just immediately has the answer you are looking for with one simple quick fix, talking the problem through with them forces you to 'start over'. Not literally of course but rather metaphorically as you explain everything again from the top and little things that you never considered before suddenly become obvious or give you an idea of another approach to your problem. One of the benefits of coding with someone else is that you are able to dig from a larger pool of ideas and solutions as quite literally, 'two heads are better than one' and the same will be true with your partner as they too will be able to pick your brain for their problems.

Sometimes just throwing ideas between each other will result in a brand new idea that may or may not use a combination of the previous ideas thrown out that perfectly suits your needs. I was recently in that exact situation where a colleague and I were baffled by a problem and just from a short conversation we came to solution that was so simple and easy that I was actually shocked that I hadn't thought of it myself before the call.

Besides the positive impact that this has on your work, this small interaction can also have a massive impact on your mental well being. As we now live in a Covid world, many of us work from home and we don't really ever get to see our fellow colleagues, never mind actually talking to them. Sure you may have stand ups or team meetings but that will never really come close to the social interaction that a one-on-one will have. Even if it is only over Microsoft Teams or Zoom.

You and your colleague may being talking about work but there is nothing stopping your from asking how their day was or what they had for lunch? It may seem insignificant but even talking through a simple coding problem may have a profound positive effect on both you and your colleague.