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THE LAWS OF SOFTWARE PROCESS
them, so we tend to use them more and get better at them. This is fine,
unless the approach does not work. Under pressure, most of us will reflex-
ively revert to the skill set that has been most successful for us in the past.
Working closely with someone allows us access to their problem-solving
style as well as our own. Finally, when we focus too much on a problem, we
tend to lock in on one approach to solving it. Having to explain or discuss
our reasoning with another helps to prevent this lock-in.
Collective Ownership
In addition to pair programming, XP encourages cooperative ownership
of all work products including code. This means that anyone may change
any code, although this may not occur practically, because the ...