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Ehh. There are two kinds of tech debt: * Things you haven't built yet * Things you shouldn't have built that way IMO first one is OK, and the second one is w
by RangerScience 5y ago
Ehh. There are two kinds of tech debt:
* Things you haven't built yet
* Things you shouldn't have built that way
IMO first one is OK, and the second one is what kills you.
OP is absolutely correct to point out you can find tech debt in code, architecture and data, but... That doesn't really help to make general decisions about it, both in handling it once you have it, and in making decisions about accumulating it.
- RangerScience 5y agoBonus: This model also works on all kinds of non-financial debt! * Things you haven't dealt with. * Things you shouldn't have dealt with that way. Try looking at your "emotional debt" (what you go to a talk therapist to talk about) with under this frame, it's pretty handy.
- coolgeek 5y agoIt's also important to understand that entropy lies at the end of all roads (metaphorical, as well as concrete). That entropy has a way of sneaking up on you
- Msurrow 5y agoI agree with your model, but I also find Fowler’s model on tech debt helpful: https://martinfowler.com/bliki/TechnicalDebtQuadrant.html https://martinfowler.com/bliki/TechnicalDebtQuadrant.html It’s sort of one level “deeper” that the one you use. For me it is helpful because it allows to work with temporality in decisions on tech debt, ie “do we have time to do this right or do we need to get sh*it done now and pay later”. This is valuable because it allows you to work with tradeoffs in architecture and design. Tradeoffs are inevitable in SW design and sometimes some thing is gonna be more important that not taking on tech debt [right now]. The important thing is to remember that debt has to be payed off.