Do you want to pair up with me for a good cause? I am proposing people to code with me over the internet to practice Test Driven Development, refactoring and pair programming. Instead of giving me money for that, I would like my pair to donate some money or time for charity. It works like this:
- You choose the cause you want within the following three categories: people in need, animal welfare or nature conservancy.
- So donations can’t go to open source projects or startups.
- You choose the amount. Think that we will be programming for one hour or more. Donate at least the money that you think it’s worth an hour of pair programming with me.
- Pay or provide active help and send me the receipt of your donation.
- Choose the day and time. I usually prefer to meet on Sunday evening.
- We meet through Skype or Google Hangout and share desktop with TeamViewer or Chrome Remote Desktop.
- You choose the programming language, tooling and problem to solve. I can propose several code katas if you don’t know what to work on. We can also work on any of my projects (LiveTeamApp for example).
- Your name goes to the developer’s charity “hall of fame”.
What value do you get from a pair programming session with me?
- I’ve been doing TDD daily for 5 years now. I can help you understanding TDD by solving together a code kata. I’ve also been training developers on this. We can talk in English or Spanish.
- I’ve been practicing pair programming daily for 3 years now. With different people using several languages.
- Most of the time I code in Javascript, Python, C# and Java. I can help you learning any of these languages.
- You get the chance to share what you know and I’ll be happy to listen and learn from you.
Can you copy this idea?
The idea is not mine. This is just a mix of ideas from Corey Haines, Sebastian Hermida and more people. I’ll be happy if you create your own “hall of fame” and invite developers to pair up with you for charity. If you do so, please send me the url and I’ll link to it. We can use the hashtag #pairing4charity in twitter for this 🙂
Together we can become better developers, better professionals, and help others 😉