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I like the tech debt quote: >Tech debt is like fast food. Occasionally it’s acceptable but if you get used to it, it’ll kill the product faster than you think

I like the tech debt quote: >Tech debt is like fast food. Occasionally it’s acceptable but if you get used to it, it’ll kill the product faster than you think (and in a painful way). However, I would have worded it more strongly: >Tech debt is like cocaine. It will make you unnaturally productive, until one day it doesn't. My point here is twofold: 1. The speed with which which the worm turns is underestimated by Silicon Valley "move fast" culture. 2. The obsession with go-to-market speed in SV and SV-adjacent companies is extreme. In some sense, it's as extreme as the lets-take-blow-and-get-rich finance circles. There is certainly something to be said for iterating quickly, and it is likewise true that engineers have perfectionist tendencies, but I think our industry has taken a good thing much too far. Going to market has more to do with being focused than with doing sloppy work. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.

taeric 5y ago
I think you both oversell it. Debt, as the metaphor, implies borrowed something. You could be borrowing effort from pulled in libraries. You could be borrowing future maintenance time. Both can be valid choices. Both can be success or failure. So, if you have the time now to not borrow, don't. But if you can leverage growth to have more future resources to pay back on debt, you should probably do so.
- omginternets 5y ago
  That's fair. My post is mostly a reaction to the fact that tech debt is rarely (read: never) handled correctly, i.e. as debt to be paid back with interest. It's instead an excuse to burn the candle at both ends.
  - taeric 5y ago
    I agree with that. I mainly think it is like most metaphors, and largely used to argue whatever position the debater has. Whatever use it may have, is indeed evaporated as both sides of the debate burn away at it.
zild3d 5y ago
How much cocaine is reasonable to do then? And how frequently?
- omginternets 5y ago
  That's exactly my point. If you find yourself in a situation where cocaine is necessary to achieve success, you're not in a healthy situation. From there, I have no good answer. Some people will take it once or twice, succeed, and be fine. Others won't.

taeric 5y ago

I think you both oversell it. Debt, as the metaphor, implies borrowed something. You could be borrowing effort from pulled in libraries. You could be borrowing future maintenance time. Both can be valid choices. Both can be success or failure. So, if you have the time now to not borrow, don't. But if you can leverage growth to have more future resources to pay back on debt, you should probably do so.

omginternets 5y ago
That's fair. My post is mostly a reaction to the fact that tech debt is rarely (read: never) handled correctly, i.e. as debt to be paid back with interest. It's instead an excuse to burn the candle at both ends.
- taeric 5y ago
  I agree with that. I mainly think it is like most metaphors, and largely used to argue whatever position the debater has. Whatever use it may have, is indeed evaporated as both sides of the debate burn away at it.

zild3d 5y ago

How much cocaine is reasonable to do then? And how frequently?

omginternets 5y ago
That's exactly my point. If you find yourself in a situation where cocaine is necessary to achieve success, you're not in a healthy situation. From there, I have no good answer. Some people will take it once or twice, succeed, and be fine. Others won't.