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Technical debt
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Problem
Technical debt is a jargon term that gets thrown around a lot in the software development industry. It's worth understanding what it means, how to spot it and how to deal with it, once it inevitably rears its ugly head.
The term itself comes from a metaphor, in which the team's lack of understanding about the codebase leads to continuous disagreement. Continuously stumbling upon this situation slows down progress, feeling like paying interest on a loan.
Technical debt is effectively the natural result of writing code about something we don't have a proper understanding of.
But what causes technical debt in the first place? As hinted at by the previous definition, it arises from a disagreement between business needs and how the software was written. The root cause for such disagreements can either appear early on or later down the line.
In the former case, a lack of understanding might have lead to laying the foundations incorrectly, therefore carrying the debt from the start. Poor design choices, lack of foresight and a lack of communication between the team members can all lead to this.
The term itself comes from a metaphor, in which the team's lack of understanding about the codebase leads to continuous disagreement. Continuously stumbling upon this situation slows down progress, feeling like paying interest on a loan.
Technical debt is effectively the natural result of writing code about something we don't have a proper understanding of.
But what causes technical debt in the first place? As hinted at by the previous definition, it arises from a disagreement between business needs and how the software was written. The root cause for such disagreements can either appear early on or later down the line.
In the former case, a lack of understanding might have lead to laying the foundations incorrectly, therefore carrying the debt from the start. Poor design choices, lack of foresight and a lack of communication between the team members can all lead to this.
Solution
Technical debt is effectively the natural result of writing code about something we don't have a proper understanding of.
But what causes technical debt in the first place? As hinted at by the previous definition, it arises from a disagreement between business needs and how the software was written. The root cause for such disagreements can either appear early on or later down the line.
In the former case, a lack of understanding might have lead to laying the foundations incorrectly, therefore carrying the debt from the start. Poor design choices, lack of foresight and a lack of communication between the team members can all lead to this.
In the latter case, the debt might have been incurred due to a change in the business requirements, which the software was not designed to handle. This is often the case with projects that move rapidly, making it hard to adapt to the changing needs.
Interestingly enough, poor code and not following best practices only account for a portion of technical debt. This means that, while following best practices and writing clean code can help reduce the debt, they are usually not the main cause.
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But what causes technical debt in the first place? As hinted at by the previous definition, it arises from a disagreement between business needs and how the software was written. The root cause for such disagreements can either appear early on or later down the line.
In the former case, a lack of understanding might have lead to laying the foundations incorrectly, therefore carrying the debt from the start. Poor design choices, lack of foresight and a lack of communication between the team members can all lead to this.
In the latter case, the debt might have been incurred due to a change in the business requirements, which the software was not designed to handle. This is often the case with projects that move rapidly, making it hard to adapt to the changing needs.
Interestingly enough, poor code and not following best practices only account for a portion of technical debt. This means that, while following best practices and writing clean code can help reduce the debt, they are usually not the main cause.
@You may also like
Context
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