🧠 Zero to Builder: Day 66 Pair Programming—With a Friend or With AI
Day 66 is all about Pair Programming: working with both a human collaborator and an AI assistant to build something together.
By now, you've written a lot of code solo. Maybe you’ve relied on Cursor or ChatGPT to help you out. But today, we're bringing back an old-school but powerful technique: pair programming.
And yes, we’re doing it the Zero to Builder way—with both a human and an AI in the mix.
💬 What Is Pair Programming?
Pair programming is a technique where two developers work on code together—usually one "drives" (types the code) while the other "navigates" (reviews and guides).
When pairing with a human, the navigator helps spot logic bugs, question assumptions, and suggest cleaner solutions. When pairing with an AI, the same rules apply—except now you’re the human guiding the AI’s suggestions.
🛠 Today’s Coding Task
Goal: Take a small feature or bugfix and try working on it with someone else—either:
A friend or colleague in real-time via screen share, OR
Your AI coding assistant (e.g., Cursor, ChatGPT, Copilot) as a pseudo pair partner
Suggested task:
Take a previous mini-project (like your CRUD app or RSS tool)
Add a feature or fix a small bug
Use the AI as your navigator—ask it questions, let it suggest code, but you decide what to accept
If you're working with a human, take turns driving and navigating.
👀 What to Observe
Ask yourself:
How does the dynamic change when I code with someone else (or with an AI)?
Is the AI suggesting the why, or just the what?
Am I blindly accepting code, or critically reviewing it like a true collaborator?
💡 AI Tip of the Day
Try this prompt in Cursor or ChatGPT to simulate a pair programming session:
“I want to work on this feature. Let’s pair program—I'll describe each step, and you suggest improvements, warn me of pitfalls, and help me refactor when needed. Ready?”
This style of prompt flips the dynamic and makes you the lead engineer. That’s exactly the mindset we want to foster.
🧠 Why This Matters
Real-world software is rarely built alone. Learning to explain your thought process—whether to a colleague or a machine—is a huge skill. It forces clarity, uncovers assumptions, and sharpens your architecture instincts.
Pairing with AI teaches you how to think aloud and code collaboratively, even when you're solo.
🧑🏾💻 Implementing in Cursor
Here's a fun way to try it:
Open one of your Flask or React projects in Cursor
Start making a small feature change
As you go, use natural language comments to explain what you’re doing
Let Cursor react with suggestions
Ask it to review or optimize your solution once complete
You’ll be surprised at how much better your code gets—even when you already thought it was good.
🧩 Vibe Code Prompt of the Day
“Let’s act as a pair programming team. I’ll write each step of a Flask app update to include email notifications. You help me debug, optimize, and comment the code as we go.”
Try it on a mini project you’ve already built!
Want to do this with a friend? Share your screen, take turns typing, and see if you can out-code the AI 😄