Object Mentor Blog: Easy Pairing With Synergy

Easy Pairing With Synergy

Ben Rady — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 09:55:00 -0500

Pair programming is a very powerful development practice. It’s a great way to learn, to solve hard problems, and to write really excellent code. However, there are a number of human issues that can make pairing more difficult than it needs to be. Synergy is a tool that has helped me solve many of those problems. Here’s how…

Synergy is basically a software KVM (without the V). It lets you share one keyboard and mouse among many different computers. While originally designed as a tool for sysadmins, I’ve been using it to make pairing easier, especially in environments that aren’t really conducive to pushing a keyboard back and forth.

Synergy can be run in server or client mode. The machine running the server shares it’s keyboard and mouse with the client(s). I usually run as the server, because I’m pairing with a developer who’s working on some code that he has checked out on his machine. I start the server like this:


synergys --name BensMac

I’m not specifying a config file here, because I have a .synergy.conf file in my home directory that looks like this:

section: screens
   BensMac:
   WindowsBoxToTheLeft:
        super = alt
        alt = ctrl
   WindowsBoxToTheRight:
        super = alt
        alt = ctrl
end

section: links
   BensMac:
       left = WindowsBoxToTheLeft
       right = WindowsBoxToTheRight
   WindowsBoxToTheLeft:
       right = BensMac
   WindowsBoxToTheRight:
       left = BensMac
end

Synergy treats each machine as a “screen” and the screens are configured here. I’ve got one screen called “BensMac”, which is me. When I launched the server, notice that I specified what screen I was using the --name option.

I’m pairing with a developer who’s running windows and sitting to the left of me, so he runs the synergy client and connects to my machine like so:


synergyc --name WindowsBoxToTheLeft my.ip.addr.ess

What this does is tell synergy to connect to my machine using the screen name WindowsBoxToTheLeft. As you can see in my config file, that screen is set up with some specific settings. BensMac is specified to be to the right of WindowsBoxToTheLeft and vice-versa. I’ve also remapped a few keys for that screen, so that the command key maps to control and the option key maps to alt (normally, synergy reverses them). I haven’t had the opportunity to set up a LinuxBoxToTheLeft, but the setup would be similar.

Now that we’re connected, I can move my mouse over to the left side of my screen and it “appears” on the other developer’s screen. I can control it, click on things, type whatever I want. I can even copy text on my machine and paste it onto his. I find this much more effective than the standard pairing setup of two developers and one keyboard, because it allows for more fluid collaboration, and makes it much easier to change “drivers”.

For those afraid of the command line, there’s also a windows GUI client that operates in the same way. You specify a screen name, and an ip address, and away you go. It’s any easy download and a great way to start off a pairing session.

If you find yourself pairing a lot, with a lot of different people, try using Synergy. Once you’ve got it configured, it’s quick to set up, and it’s a great tool to facilitate face-to-face collaboration.

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Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:56:12 -0500

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"Easy Pairing With Synergy" by emlak

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:19:32 -0500

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"Easy Pairing With Synergy" by galbur

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 07:56:06 -0500

There’s nothing worse than someone who wants things to be better but does nothing about it.

"Easy Pairing With Synergy" by ask ve sevgi

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 06:09:34 -0500

My pairing partner is sitting next to me.

"Easy Pairing With Synergy" by Fx 15

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 06:08:09 -0500

Hello, site author. Thank you sharing this very beautiful. I hope I make the following comments are not an issue for the bloc. I hope the site continues.

"Easy Pairing With Synergy" by sohbet

Wed, 19 May 2010 11:37:08 -0500

You can’t do this alone you need other people with like minded views or at least other people who are willing to listen. There’s nothing worse than someone who wants things to be better but does nothing about it.

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"Easy Pairing With Synergy" by disney restaurants

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 01:57:08 -0500

I totally agree to you about Pair programming which is a very powerful development practice. It’s a great way to learn, to solve hard problems, and to write really excellent code.

"Easy Pairing With Synergy" by iphone fix

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:33:42 -0600

Synergy is really useful I think so.

"Easy Pairing With Synergy" by Ben

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 09:31:07 -0500

My pairing partner is sitting next to me.

"Easy Pairing With Synergy" by http://xplayer.wordpress.com/

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 06:40:13 -0500

Hi Ben, one thing I don’t fully understand is this: are you using Synergy as a tool for remote pairing or your pair is sitting near to you?

"Easy Pairing With Synergy" by SharedView Beta

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 08:24:17 -0500

For a Windows-specific solution, Microsoft recently released SharedView Beta, a screen-sharing application that is nice for remote pair-programming.

(disclaimer: I do work on the SharedView team at Microsoft).

"Easy Pairing With Synergy" by Dean Wampler

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:37:31 -0500

Nice. I’ll have to give it a try.

I’ve done remote pairing using Window’s Remove Desktop sharing. It’s not ideal, but it can work well enough if you’ve got a good end-to-end connection.

For Mac users, there is a collaborative editor called SubEthaEdit.