There are benefits to be had by BOTH. Pairing 100% of the time works well for Pivotal and their clients. At AirPair we mix and match for appropriate tasks internally. Externally for our customers, we use it as the ultimate format of knowledge share and training.

Benefits of solo: - Creative - Code faster (in terms of lines, no necessarily quality) - Get to do things they way you like

Benefits of pairing - Instant code review and double vetted architecture decisions - Avoid distractions (like email/social media) as you can't be rude to your pair - Getting accelerated knowledge infusion on both software tricks and domain of the application