Presented at a lecture in a course at the University of Gothenburg.

What is Technical Debt

Technical Debt (TD) is a term used in software development to describe non-optimal solutions, often as a shortcut to meet a limited time frame, which can lead to increased maintenance in the future. Cunningham (1992) first introduced the concept of TD to describe coding practice where developers employ quick-and-dirty solutions to address pressing problems. Left unattended, these solutions would cause problems in the future. He leveraged the metaphor of financial debt to help financial sector managers understand the consequences of certain software development practices: “Shipping first-time code is like going into debt. A little debt speeds development so long as it is paid back promptly with a rewrite… The danger occurs when the debt is not repaid. Every minute spent on not-quite-right code counts as interest on that debt.” (Cunningham, 1992).

...

Preventing TD requires proactive planning, automation, and best practices.
Mitigating TD involves prioritizing fixes, continuous improvement, and strategic refactoring.
Tracking TD in a technical debt register ensures visibility and long-term control.

Related papers