Technical Debt: Advantages, Disadvantages, and Benefits of Repaying Tech Debt
Technical debt in Scrum refers to the accumulation of design and implementation shortcuts that have been taken in a software development project. These shortcuts can create issues and challenges in the future, and they require additional time, effort, and resources to fix. The term "debt" is used because, like financial debt, technical debt incurs interest in the form of increased costs and decreased productivity over time. In Scrum, technical debt is often considered a byproduct of prioritizing delivering working software quickly, which is one of the main goals of Scrum.
Managing technical debt is an important part of the Scrum process, as it helps to ensure that the software remains maintainable, scalable, and able to meet the changing needs of users. The Scrum team must regularly assess and prioritize the work required to pay down technical debt, and make decisions about when and how to address it.
In Scrum, technical debt is often managed through the use of "debt stories" or "tech stories," which are stories or tasks specifically dedicated to paying down technical debt. These stories are prioritized and addressed along with other work in the Sprint backlog. By keeping track of technical debt and addressing it as part of the normal work process, the Scrum team can help to prevent it from becoming a roadblock to delivering valuable software.
Below I highlight some key elements of technical debt, including what can lead to technical debt and ways to handle it.
Taking shortcuts can lead to tech debt
Taking shortcuts during software development can lead to the accumulation of technical debt. Technical debt is created when design or implementation choices are made that are not optimal, but are done in order to meet short-term deadlines or budget constraints. While these shortcuts may seem like a quick solution in the moment, they can have long-term consequences that can negatively impact the maintainability, scalability, and performance of the software.
For example, if a developer takes a shortcut to implement a feature, they may use a hack or workaround that is not well-documented or easy to maintain. This can result in code that is difficult to understand, and can make future updates or modifications more challenging. Similarly, shortcuts in design can result in code that is not well-structured, making it difficult to change or extend in the future.
The accumulation of technical debt can be costly, as fixing the issues created by shortcuts often requires additional time and resources. It can also slow down development and make it harder to deliver new features and improvements. This is why it's important to consider the long-term impact of shortcuts and make informed decisions about when and how to take them.
Technical debt must be repaid
Technical debt must be repaid in order to avoid long-term consequences for a software development project. Technical debt is created when design or implementation shortcuts are taken in order to meet short-term deadlines or budget constraints. These shortcuts can create issues and challenges in the future, and they require additional time, effort, and resources to fix.
Repaying technical debt involves taking steps to clean up or refactor code, improve design and architecture, and address any issues created by the shortcuts. This process can be time-consuming and may require resources that were not originally budgeted for, but it is necessary in order to ensure the maintainability, scalability, and performance of the software.
Approaches for repaying tech debt
There are several ways to approach repaying technical debt, depending on the size and complexity of the project, as well as the available resources and timeline. Some common strategies include:
Prioritizing: Assessing the impact of technical debt and prioritizing the most pressing issues to address first.
Incremental repayment: Incorporating small, incremental steps to address technical debt into the normal development process.
Dedicated sprints: Dedicating specific sprints or cycles to paying down technical debt.
Technical stories: Creating stories or tasks specifically dedicated to paying down technical debt and prioritizing these stories along with other work in the sprint backlog.
No matter the approach, it's important to keep track of technical debt and make decisions about when and how to repay it. This can help to ensure that the software remains maintainable, scalable, and able to meet the changing needs of users. By managing technical debt effectively, the development team can avoid the long-term consequences of shortcuts and deliver high-quality software that meets the needs of users.
Sometimes creating technical debt is a strategic move
Creating technical debt can be a deliberate strategy in software development. Technical debt is created when design or implementation shortcuts are taken in order to meet short-term deadlines or budget constraints. These shortcuts can create issues and challenges in the future, but they also allow the development team to deliver software quickly and make progress on high-priority features.
In certain situations, creating technical debt can be a valuable strategy for achieving specific goals or addressing specific needs. For example, taking shortcuts in order to quickly launch a minimum viable product (MVP) can help to validate an idea, get feedback from users, and iterate on the product before investing more resources. Similarly, taking shortcuts in order to meet a tight deadline for a critical feature can help to keep the project on track and ensure that the software meets the needs of users.
However, it's important to recognize that creating technical debt is not without risks. The shortcuts taken to create technical debt can create issues and challenges in the future that require additional time, effort, and resources to fix. Therefore, creating technical debt must be done with caution and with a clear understanding of the trade-offs and risks involved.
When considering creating technical debt as a strategy, it's important to make informed decisions and plan for the eventual repayment of the debt. This can involve prioritizing the most pressing issues to address, dedicating resources to paying down technical debt, and making sure that the development team is aware of the risks involved. By managing technical debt effectively, the development team can balance the benefits of taking shortcuts with the need to maintain the quality and reliability of the software.
Interest on the technical debt
Just as financial debt incurs interest, technical debt also incurs interest. The longer features have been left out of the product, the higher the total interest that will eventually need to be repaid. So every effort must be made to pay the debt as soon as possible.
What about the interest rate? The more important or the higher the priority of the feature that has been left out, the higher the interest rate. This means that it would be prudent to pay off those features with the highest priority first. In most situations, the entire debt should be paid or retired. The danger in postponing repayment is that customers may move to competitors who have managed to incorporate these features in their product.
What is unintended debt?
Unintended technical debt is a term used to describe technical debt that is not created deliberately as a strategy, but instead is created unintentionally as a result of poor software design or development practices. Unlike technical debt that is created deliberately as a strategy, unintended technical debt is often the result of ignorance, carelessness, or a lack of understanding of the consequences of shortcuts taken during development.
Unintended technical debt can arise from a number of factors, including:
Lack of planning or foresight: When the development team does not fully understand the long-term implications of design or implementation choices, they may take shortcuts that result in unintended technical debt.
Lack of understanding or experience: When developers are not familiar with best practices or are inexperienced, they may make choices that result in unintended technical debt.
Pressure to deliver quickly: When there is pressure to deliver software quickly, the development team may take shortcuts that result in unintended technical debt.
Unintended technical debt can have a significant impact on the maintainability, scalability, and performance of software, and it can make future updates or modifications more difficult and time-consuming. This is why it's important to recognize unintended technical debt and take steps to address it, in order to avoid long-term consequences for the software development project.
Is a debt-free product possible?
In most situations the answer is no. Debt-free implies perfection or near perfection. It implies the ability to flawlessly deliver all the product features. However, achieving quality at this level can be very costly and may not be possible given the price customers or end users maybe willing to pay for these features.
Delivering a debt-free product also suggests that the product will occur higher upfront costs before it can be tested in the marketplace, or it may mean higher costs before feedback can be collected. Again, there are exceptions in nuclear engineering and healthcare, where every effort needs to be made to avoid any debt, but most projects need to at least consider that as a strategic option.
When not to repay technical debt
There may be situations where repaying technical debt is not the best course of action. Technical debt is created when design or implementation shortcuts are taken in order to meet short-term deadlines or budget constraints. Repaying technical debt involves taking steps to clean up or refactor code, improve design and architecture, and address any issues created by the shortcuts.
However, there are times when repaying technical debt may not be the best use of resources. For example:
End of life: If the software is near the end of its life cycle and will soon be replaced or retired, it may not make sense to invest resources in repaying technical debt.
Short-term priorities: If there are higher-priority projects or initiatives that require immediate attention, it may not be feasible to allocate resources to repaying technical debt.
Limited resources: If there are limited resources available for software development, it may not be possible to allocate sufficient resources to repaying technical debt.
Lack of impact: If the technical debt has a low impact on the software, it may not be necessary to repay it immediately.
When deciding whether or not to repay technical debt, it's important to consider the trade-offs and weigh the benefits and costs of repaying the debt against other priorities. By making informed decisions and carefully balancing the costs and benefits of repaying technical debt, the development team can ensure that the software remains maintainable, scalable, and able to meet the changing needs of users.
