Technical Debt
Abstract
Technical debt is the debt that accrues when developers knowingly or unknowingly make wrong or nonoptimal design decisions. Technical debt is akin to financial debt. Allowing a small debt to occur is acceptable provided it is paid soon enough; not paying the debt for a longer period invites bigger troubles. Similarly, in a software project, technical debt needs to be repaid regularly to avoid its accumulation. Large technical debt significantly degrades the quality of the software system and affects the productivity of the development team. In extreme cases, when the accumulated technical debt becomes so huge that it cannot be paid off anymore, the product has to be abandoned. This chapter emphasizes the importance ...
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