Managing Technical Debt: Tradeoff between Speed and Long-Term Sustainability

Technical debt is a concept that has become increasingly important in software development over the past few decades. In essence, it refers to the trade-off between delivering software quickly and maintaining its long-term sustainability. Just as financial debt can accumulate over time and can become a burden, technical debt too if it is not managed effectively.

In this blog post, we will explore the concept of technical debt and provide some best practices for managing it. We will begin by defining technical debt and explaining why it is important to manage it effectively. We will then explore some common causes of technical debt and provide some strategies for reducing and avoiding it. Finally, we will discuss some best practices for balancing the need for speed with long-term sustainability in software development.

What is Technical Debt?

Technical debt refers to the cost of maintaining and supporting software that was built quickly and without regard for its long-term sustainability. Just as financial debt accumulates over time and accrues interest, technical debt accumulates as developers take shortcuts or make compromises that result in suboptimal design and code quality. That results that the code is difficult to maintain, modify, or extend. This can lead to a situation where the cost of maintaining and supporting the software is much higher than it would have been if the software had been built with sustainability in mind from the beginning.

What causes Technical Debt?

There are many factors that can contribute to the accumulation of technical debt. Here are a few common causes:

1. Rush to Meet Deadlines

One of the most common causes of technical debt is the pressure to meet deadlines. If a development team is under pressure to deliver software quickly, they may take shortcuts or make compromises that result in suboptimal code quality. While this may allow them to meet the deadline, it can lead to a situation where the cost of maintaining and supporting the software is much higher than it would have been if the software had been built with sustainability in mind from the beginning.

2. Lack of Planning

Another common cause of technical debt is a lack of planning. If a development team does not take the time to carefully plan out the architecture and design of their software, they may end up with design/code that is difficult to maintain or extend.

3. Working in Silos

Poor communication between dev team members can also contribute to the accumulation of technical debt. If developers are not communicating effectively with each other, cross functional team members or with stakeholders, they may end up making design decisions that are not optimal for the long-term sustainability of the product.

4. Lack of DevSecOps adoption and right SDLC tooling

Finally, a lack of DevSecOps adoption and not to incorporate right tooling to automate testing, code scanning, code reviews etc., can also contribute to the accumulation of technical debt. If developers do not have a robust code review process, automated testing suite in place, they may introduce defects that are not caught until much later in the development cycle. This can lead to a situation where the cost of fixing defects is much higher than it would have been if the defects had been caught earlier in the development process. This also degrades morale of the developers as they spend more hours to manage and fix the defects.

Why is Technical Debt Important to Manage?

Managing technical debt is important for a number of reasons. First and foremost, technical debt can be a major drain on productivity and resources. If developers are spending all their time fixing defects and maintaining legacy code, they will have less time to work on new features and improvements.

In addition, technical debt can lead to higher costs and longer development times. If code is poorly designed or difficult to modify, it may take much longer to add new features or make changes to the software. This can result in missed deadlines, higher costs, and a negative impact on the development team morale and job satisfaction. If they are constantly working with suboptimal code or struggling to fix defects that could have been avoided with better design decisions, they may become frustrated and demotivated. This can lead to higher turnover rates and a less productive team.

How to reduce/avoid Technical Debt?

Now that we have explored some common causes of technical debt, let’s discuss some strategies for reducing and avoiding it:

1. Focus on Delivering Value

One of the most effective ways to reduce and avoid technical debt is to prioritize design of product and code quality from the beginning. This means taking the time to carefully plan out the architecture and design of your software, and ensuring that all code is thoroughly reviewed and tested before it is merged into the main source code branch. By prioritizing code quality, you can avoid many of the shortcuts and compromises that can lead to technical debt.

2. Use Agile Methodologies

Agile methodologies, such as Scrum and Kanban, can also be effective at reducing and avoiding technical debt. By breaking down development into smaller, manageable sprints and focusing on delivering value in each sprint, you can ensure that your software is being developed with sustainability in mind from the beginning. Agile methodologies also prioritize communication and collaboration with in the team and across the different teams, which can help ensure that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same OKRs (Objectives and Key Results).

3. Code Reviews and Automated Testing

Code reviews can help establish coding standards and best practices that can help prevent technical debt from accumulating in the first place. Automated testing is another effective way to reduce and avoid technical debt. By implementing a robust suite of automated tests, you can catch defects much earlier in the development process, before they have a chance to accumulate and become a burden. Automated testing can also help ensure that all code is thoroughly tested before it is merged into the main source code branch.

4. Manage Technical Debt as part of Sprint Planning

Managing technical debt should be a part of your sprint planning process. As you prioritize features and improvements, you should also consider the impact they will have on your codebase and the potential for accumulating technical debt. This means weighing the benefits of delivering features quickly against the long-term sustainability of your software.

5. Prioritize Technical Debt Reduction

While it may be tempting to prioritize new features and improvements over technical debt reduction, it is important to keep technical debt reduction a priority. By taking the time to reduce and avoid technical debt, you can ensure that your software is being developed with long-term sustainability in mind.

6. Make Technical Debt Reduction a Team Effort

Reducing and avoiding technical debt should not be the sole responsibility of one team member. Instead, it should be a team effort, with everyone working together to ensure that technical debt is kept to a minimum. This means encouraging everyone on the team to prioritize code quality, communicate effectively, and stay on top of technical debt reduction.

7. Continuously Monitor Technical Debt

Finally, it is important to continuously monitor the technical debt associated with your software. One way to accomplish this is by integrating tools like SonarQube and Kiuwan into your CI/CD pipeline, allowing you to continuously assess technical debt and communicate it to the stake holders. This means keeping track of technical debt metrics, such as code complexity and defect counts, and regularly assessing the impact of technical debt on your software’s sustainability. By staying on top of technical debt, you can ensure that your software remains sustainable over the long-term.

Ultimately, managing technical debt is about taking a proactive approach to software development. By prioritizing quality of design and development, communication, and technical debt reduction, you can ensure that your software is developed with both speed and sustainability in mind, and avoid the costs and risks associated with technical debt.