The cooperative methods suggested are similar to those used by other collective ventures such as Wikipedia.
The concept was first propounded by Gerald M. Weinberg in his 1971 book, The Psychology of Computer Programming.
[1] To ensure quality, reviews of code by other programmers are made.
The concept of egoless programming emphasises that such reviews should be made in a friendly, collegial way in which personal feelings are put aside.
[2] Egoless programming explicitly minimizes constraints of hierarchy and status so as to enable the free exchange of ideas and improvements.