1. Facilitate open communication between developers. 2. Encourage active listening and validation of each other's perspectives. 3. Identify common goals for the project to refocus the discussion. 4. Promote a solution-oriented mindset by brainstorming together. 5. Conduct a pros and cons analysis of each approach. 6. Seek input from a neutral third party if necessary. 7. Emphasize respect and professionalism throughout the process. 8. Foster team spirit through collaboration and team-building activities. 9. Establish clear decision-making criteria for evaluating approaches. 10. Make a final decision based on agreed-upon criteria if required. 11. Follow up with both developers to ensure ongoing collaboration.

Facilitate Open Dialogue: Encourage both developers to present their approaches, ensuring they listen to each other’s viewpoints without interruption. Focus on the Problem: Redirect the conversation to the core problem and how each solution addresses it, rather than personal preferences. Data-Driven Decision-Making: Use data, metrics, or past results to objectively evaluate which approach aligns better with project goals, performance, or maintainability. Encourage Collaboration: Suggest blending the strengths of both approaches or experimenting with both solutions in a small test to see which performs better.

When developers clash over technical approaches, it’s a chance to refocus on what matters: delivering value to users. In the fast-paced software world, it’s easy to get lost in features instead of our true purpose—making a positive impact through our work. That’s where Behavior Driven Development (BDD) comes in. It starts by analyzing what customers need and then creating automated tests to ensure we’re meeting those needs. This way, feedback drives improvements, keeping user satisfaction at the forefront. Each story should include business rules, communication, and acceptance criteria. By keeping our focus on value rather than features, we can mitigate conflict.

Accept both differences, do a demo of their ideas, questions them, throw it open to the team to decide which one you are going with and why. I think its something that should be expected in a culture that fosters unique creativity. With code creation, there are many ways to achieve the same outcomes, you just need to choose the one that is optimal to your needs as a business or culture.

As they are clearly opinionated and competitive, give them a technical piece of code from a spec to complete, and bring this to a forum along with why they think their approach would work in the project. The chances are very good that some significant benefit will come from this for the project.

Depending on the scale of the problem and the depth of disagreement approach can vary. Sometimes, long term gains are hard to advocate without simple trust. A demonstrator, reasonably modest in terms of an effort, is a good way to prove an idea to your self and the others. A developer shall invest in his/her ideas to establish the proving grounds and build the trust. For a small feature, ask a third party opinion or flip a coin. Always keep in mind, the time spent on disagreement without and action is a direct and measurable waste.