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OK, if drinking too much booze, eating too much pizza, and not working out are instrumental in rapidly getting the service in the hands of paying users, then it

OK, if drinking too much booze, eating too much pizza, and not working out are instrumental in rapidly getting the service in the hands of paying users, then it's like those things. It's called "tech debt" rather than "tech indulgence" because it is helpful but has to be repaid in time.

0xbadcafebee 2y ago
You don't repay tech debt because it's not an actual debt. It's just taking shortcuts. You don't have to repay anyone for taking a shortcut. You do have to repay a debt, or your fucking car gets repossessed. And it's not like debt in any other way either. Hence tech debt is not debt. A better metaphor: it's like adultering extra-virgin olive oil with cheap refined oil and calling that "oil debt". It's not debt, you're just cheating. Sure, you're "delivering a product into the hands of users faster". There is nobody to pay back, there is nothing you owe, unless you get caught. Similarly, 'tech debt' never needs to be paid back, unless one day it bites you in the ass and you can't get around it and have to do it the right way. Actual debt does not work like that at all. Or, actually accurate: building a physical metal machine with poor tolerance and quality control. Building it to high tolerances and quality would have taken more time or expense, so they instead built it shittily so they could deliver it quicker. And it may work for the customer for a little while, but it will also have defects and stop working, and then the customer is screwed. This is not "machine debt". It's just a shitty machine, made by lazy people, so they could make money quicker. That is not how debt works. It's not debt. It's just a bad metaphor for being lazy and taking shortcuts. And it's being used now to justify being lazy and taking shortcuts. It's crazy that so many people just eat these rationalizations and then continue them as if they make sense. The dumb leading the dumb. (Also, what the hell? how could drinking and eating too much lead to people getting a product??)
- jstanley 2y ago
  Tech "debt" is paid back in the form of later refactors and having to go back and fix the things you did badly in the interest of expedience. It's just a metaphor. And it's a better metaphor than the one about eating junk food precisely because eating junk food doesn't help you build your product faster.
  - 0xbadcafebee 2y ago
    Junk food certainly gets you fed faster, and tastes more pleasurable, than cooking a nutritious meal yourself. It gives you what you want in the short term. It can kill you in the long term. Nobody has to pay back the "debt" of junk food, nothing is forcing it. Just like nothing is forcing the "paying back" of "debt" of bad software. In either case, people just get along with junk, until suddenly they have a huge problem, and realize they are now forced to get their act together. But it's often too late, and now they have much bigger problems to deal with, and few options. Again, debt does not work like that. If it was tech "debt", 1) someone would have to approve your loan, based on some kind of evidence that you could or would actually pay it back; 2) there would be a mandatory time-frame for paying it back; and 3) if you didn't pay it back, they would literally take your stuff from you. None of that happens with 'tech debt'; there's nothing forcing 'paying it back', nor any idea of how much you 'owe' or what to pay it with. The end result is people just avoid 'paying the tech debt' until a big guy named Louie shows up with a baseball bat, and now he wants 50% interest, and you don't have that kinda money. It's not debt. It's tech junk food.

0xbadcafebee 2y ago

You don't repay tech debt because it's not an actual debt. It's just taking shortcuts. You don't have to repay anyone for taking a shortcut. You do have to repay a debt, or your fucking car gets repossessed. And it's not like debt in any other way either. Hence tech debt is not debt. A better metaphor: it's like adultering extra-virgin olive oil with cheap refined oil and calling that "oil debt". It's not debt, you're just cheating. Sure, you're "delivering a product into the hands of users faster". There is nobody to pay back, there is nothing you owe, unless you get caught. Similarly, 'tech debt' never needs to be paid back, unless one day it bites you in the ass and you can't get around it and have to do it the right way. Actual debt does not work like that at all. Or, actually accurate: building a physical metal machine with poor tolerance and quality control. Building it to high tolerances and quality would have taken more time or expense, so they instead built it shittily so they could deliver it quicker. And it may work for the customer for a little while, but it will also have defects and stop working, and then the customer is screwed. This is not "machine debt". It's just a shitty machine, made by lazy people, so they could make money quicker. That is not how debt works. It's not debt. It's just a bad metaphor for being lazy and taking shortcuts. And it's being used now to justify being lazy and taking shortcuts. It's crazy that so many people just eat these rationalizations and then continue them as if they make sense. The dumb leading the dumb. (Also, what the hell? how could drinking and eating too much lead to people getting a product??)

jstanley 2y ago
Tech "debt" is paid back in the form of later refactors and having to go back and fix the things you did badly in the interest of expedience. It's just a metaphor. And it's a better metaphor than the one about eating junk food precisely because eating junk food doesn't help you build your product faster.
- 0xbadcafebee 2y ago
  Junk food certainly gets you fed faster, and tastes more pleasurable, than cooking a nutritious meal yourself. It gives you what you want in the short term. It can kill you in the long term. Nobody has to pay back the "debt" of junk food, nothing is forcing it. Just like nothing is forcing the "paying back" of "debt" of bad software. In either case, people just get along with junk, until suddenly they have a huge problem, and realize they are now forced to get their act together. But it's often too late, and now they have much bigger problems to deal with, and few options. Again, debt does not work like that. If it was tech "debt", 1) someone would have to approve your loan, based on some kind of evidence that you could or would actually pay it back; 2) there would be a mandatory time-frame for paying it back; and 3) if you didn't pay it back, they would literally take your stuff from you. None of that happens with 'tech debt'; there's nothing forcing 'paying it back', nor any idea of how much you 'owe' or what to pay it with. The end result is people just avoid 'paying the tech debt' until a big guy named Louie shows up with a baseball bat, and now he wants 50% interest, and you don't have that kinda money. It's not debt. It's tech junk food.