Can Extreme Programming be used by a Lone Programmer?

This paper briefly describes Extreme Programming (XP) and then poses the question: given the well documented benefits of XP for many types of development projects where programmers work in teams has XP anything to contribute to projects where one developer works on his/her own? Examining published literature from this perspective and drawing on the authors ’ own experience of software development, certain deductions can be made. The paper concludes that without the benefits of pair programming a lone developer cannot practice XP to the fullest extent. However, other techniques can be used in place of pair programming and any of the other practices and principles of XP can be used to improve a lone programmer's development process in the right circumstances