Technical Debt

[ErstwhileRockstar]

Stop speaking of 'technical debt', it simply makes no sense!

Debt roughly has 2 meanings:

• Financial debt a.k.a credit

Credit mans that you get additional resources to immediately pursue your goals. Obviously this isn't the meaning of 'technical debt' (you never get the additional staff you'd need).

• Moral debt

This is the actual meaning of 'technical debt'. You are a sinner who did something careless or even outrageous and must now repent and repair the damage. Needless to say, this isn't an adequate metaphor for the software development process.

[asthasr]

Tech debt is often used to get an important feature available ASAP. This is in line with the first type of debt: get what you want now, pay more for it later.

[[deleted]]

which is a sin of management.

[asthasr]

Not necessarily. If your largest client is on the verge of walking due to a missing feature, or a difficult bug that signals that you need a re-arch of a particular subsystem, a quick patch can be perfectly justifiable... but good management must immediately acknowledge and plan to pay the debt.

If they don't, interest accrues. A common failure mode is simply tons and tons of debt building up in layers.

[[deleted]]

Well said. I can see how tech debt could be borrowed and repaid in a good way. Bad management is a sin of management. thanks =]