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Collaborative Software For Pair Programming?

Posted by timothy on from the is-your-sister's-name-cynthia? dept.

DavidMatuszek writes "I will be teaching Java again this Fall. Students work in pairs, but unfortunately (after the first hour) typically not physically together. I would like to find collaborative software that is (1) dead simple to use, because that's not what the course is about, and (2) free. Google Docs would do, but students will be sharing code — plain text — not RTF or HTML or Word files. Is there such software for plain text?"

8 of 302 comments (clear)

  1. Use subversion either hosted or your own server by ls671 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I would recommend to use Subversion. You could setup your own server but there is also hosted solutions available. I searched Google for "hosted source control" and I found this link :

    http://weblogs.asp.net/fmarguerie/archive/2005/04/27/Hosted-source-control.aspx

    The bonus would be to teach your student how to use version control and how to work together on the same files. Subversion (and older CVS) integrate into Eclipse and most other development environment. There is also standalone clients available if your students use a simpler editor like vi or notepad ;-))

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    1. Re:Use subversion either hosted or your own server by RichardJenkins · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you're willing and able to release the source code, why not encourage them to use a free account on sourceforge or github?

    2. Re:Use subversion either hosted or your own server by davester666 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Um, he's doesn't appear to be talking about a repository, but rather, software to enable pair-programming, only with the pair not sitting next to each other (or in the same room). Say, some software like SubEthaEdit on MacOS X, where two people can simultaneously edit the same document, along with say, Skype or some other voice/video service where the two people can view/interact with each other.

      At least that's what I gathered from reading TFS.

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    3. Re:Use subversion either hosted or your own server by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I vote for the central server. And for having it in the hands of the teacher.

      That way he can far better check whether one student does all the work while the other is doing the homework for another class for both of them. Yes, it's also a way to share the burden, but not the way it's meant to be. The server could be made tamper proof and if something's suspicious he could always check the versions and see what was done by what student. Even if they're smart enough to hand both logins to one person and that person fakes doing work as his partner, the IP addresses would give it away if they cheated.

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  2. How about gobby? by StylusEater · · Score: 5, Informative

    How about gobby... http://gobby.0x539.de/trac/ ?

  3. Etherpad by BSDevil · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Try http://etherpad.com/ -

    EtherPad is the only web-based word processor that allows people to work together in really real-time. When multiple people edit the same document simultaneously, any changes are instantly reflected on everyone's screen. The result is a new and productive way to collaborate on text documents, useful for meeting notes, drafting sessions, education, team programming, and more.

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  4. SubEThaEdit or some other choices... by liquidhippo · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you are working on Mac OS X, then SubEThaEdit is a great choice for collaborative coding. As for other options, check this wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_real-time_editor

  5. Just cancel pair programming by h4rr4r · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Cancel the pair programming. All that happens is one student in the pair writes all the code. They might swap back and forth, or more likely one will end up doing it all.