Empirical Validation of Test-Driven Pair Programming in Game Development

This paper investigates the effects of some extreme programming practices in game development by conducting a case study with 12 students who were assigned to implement a simple game application either as pairs or as individuals. The pairs used some XP practices, such as pair programming, test-driven and refactoring, while the individuals applied the traditional waterfall-like approach. The results of the case study showed that paired students completed their tasks faster and with higher quality than individuals. The programs written by pairs pass more test cases than those developed by individuals. Paired programmers also wrote cleaner code with higher cohesion by creating more reasonable number of methods. Therefore, some XP practices, such as pair programming, test-driven and refactoring could be used in game development.