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I've done it, it's significantly better in terms of software robustness and having a good time.

You definitely get less code written than you would individually, but at the end of it everyone involved understands how the code works and why it conforms to the requirements which keeps your team's general knowledge high and turbocharges training for juniors.

It's also just pleasant to do a genuine team activity and have a laugh with people.

This is all coming from someone who greatly prefers working on their own to doing paring etc btw. It is nothing like the joy of getting your mind spinning at exactly the right speed, becoming one with the problem and smashing out a solution - so don't mentally compare it to that. It's much more like hanging out and brainstorming stupid ideas with your friends on the couch.

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This is some of the first I've heard of mobbing.

Is it generally (or in your positive experiences) done remotely, in-person, or could be either?

I've only ever done it in person and I can't imagine it would work particularly well remotely. Maybe you could attempt to recreate the experience in VR but I don't think we have anywhere near the technology level to accurately recreate 7 people physically in the same space as each other constantly moving around, having side conversations and whiteboarding things

I've experienced it working well-enough in groups of 3-4, depending on everyone having decent internet at that time and on the software used. Just like regular mobbing IMO there's some circumstances where it'll feel like the right method, if it's a method you've occasionally practiced.

Here's some free marketing, I am not affiliated with any of these co.s: The best tool I've used for multiple users was CoScreen, because it shows everyone's cursors and allows simultaneous sharing of windows from multiple coworkers. So per that point in the OP that the major benefit is "trivia" knowledge, if you have one coworker who can quickly solve subproblem X from their terminal, and another who can quickly solve subproblem Y from their terminal, both terminals can be shared simultaneously and everyone can gain that context.

I would be willing to try what you're saying, but I don't think it would feel to me like in person feels. But maybe that's OK? It doesn't need to be the same experience as long as the outcome is the same.

Thanks, that's what I suspected!

That makes sense, the "constantly moving around having side-conversations and whiteboarding things" being a good part of it.

After reading your description, I could see myself liking in-person mobbing too, and it really being a different thing than "pairing" (which I don't love)... but trying to do it remote sounds nightmarish to me personally.

Bear in mind it needs to take place in an environment where people trust each other and feel safe. Nothing kills the mood faster than someone saying something like "that's a stupid idea Steve, what's wrong with you?"

I definitely think remote group programming is possible, but I reckon it'd be really hard to get right _starting_ remote, and it'd never be quite as good as in person is.

The way it is promoted is a bunch of people in a room. But, I've done something similar using VSCode Live Share and Live Share Audio and it worked well.

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