4 ms·

I would even say that from a project management perspective, zero technical debt is undesirable. It means you have invested resources into perfecting something

by zoul 10mo ago

I would even say that from a project management perspective, zero technical debt is undesirable. It means you have invested resources into perfecting something that, almost by definition, could have waited a while, instead of improving some more important metric such as user experience. (I do understand tech debt makes it harder to work with the codebase, impacting all metrics, I just don’t think zero tech debt is a good target.)

lll-o-lll 10mo ago
> perfecting something that, almost by definition, could have waited a while No technical debt is not the same thing as “perfection”. Good enough doesn’t mean perfect. Would it be ok to submit an essay with only 90% of the underlined spelling mistakes fixed? Do you paint your outdoor table but leave the underside for later? Do it once, do it right. That doesn’t mean perfect, it means not cutting corners.
- zoul 10mo ago
  Would you keep fixing the underlined spelling mistakes on your “watch out for holes in the pavement” sign while people are already walking there?
  - lll-o-lll 10mo ago
    There are contexts where quick and dirty and (hopefully) come back later are warranted. Far more often it is just an excuse for shoddy work. You used the word “perfection” as the contrast to “technical debt”. Granted, technical debt is not a well defined term, but I am simply highlighting that “free from technical debt” in no way implies anything like perfect. It just implies well made.
    - zoul 10mo ago
      My argument works just as well if you replace “perfecting” with “improving”.
      - skydhash 10mo ago
        Technical debt is not a current defect. It just means that for the sake of having something quickly done today, you accept that the cost of changing stuff tomorrow will be greater than normal. If you never have to change something (switching jobs, consultancy project you don’t care about,…) then it may be a great trade off.

by zoul 10mo ago

lll-o-lll 10mo ago

> perfecting something that, almost by definition, could have waited a while No technical debt is not the same thing as “perfection”. Good enough doesn’t mean perfect. Would it be ok to submit an essay with only 90% of the underlined spelling mistakes fixed? Do you paint your outdoor table but leave the underside for later? Do it once, do it right. That doesn’t mean perfect, it means not cutting corners.

zoul 10mo ago
Would you keep fixing the underlined spelling mistakes on your “watch out for holes in the pavement” sign while people are already walking there?
- lll-o-lll 10mo ago
  There are contexts where quick and dirty and (hopefully) come back later are warranted. Far more often it is just an excuse for shoddy work. You used the word “perfection” as the contrast to “technical debt”. Granted, technical debt is not a well defined term, but I am simply highlighting that “free from technical debt” in no way implies anything like perfect. It just implies well made.
  - zoul 10mo ago
    My argument works just as well if you replace “perfecting” with “improving”.
    - skydhash 10mo ago
      Technical debt is not a current defect. It just means that for the sake of having something quickly done today, you accept that the cost of changing stuff tomorrow will be greater than normal. If you never have to change something (switching jobs, consultancy project you don’t care about,…) then it may be a great trade off.