The Price of Shortcuts: Managing Technical Debt in Software Development
Understanding and Managing Technical Debt in Software Development
Welcome to the world of tech debt! If you’re a software developer, you’ve likely heard the term thrown around, but what does it really mean? Simply put, tech debt is the cost of maintaining and enhancing software that was developed in a rush, or with less than perfect design. It’s the price we pay for cutting corners or making quick-and-dirty decisions.
Think of it like financial debt. When you take out a loan, you’re getting money now in exchange for paying more later. Similarly, when you take on tech debt, you’re getting a quick solution now in exchange for paying more later in the form of troubleshooting, maintenance, testing, and enhancements.
Now, you might be thinking, “But wait, isn’t all software development like this? We’re always making trade-offs and prioritizing features.” And you’re right! But the key is to be aware of the tech debt you’re taking on and to make informed decisions about how much debt is acceptable.
The goal of this article is to help you understand tech debt, its causes, and its impact on software development. I’m also going to explore strategies for managing and reducing tech debt, as well as best practices for avoiding it in the first place. So, let’s dive in and start understanding this important aspect of software development.
Defining tech debt and its causes
As I introduced tech debt in the introduction, it’s the cost of making software quickly without thinking about its proper scalability. I believe the best way to explain a concept is by an example. So, let me define this concept with the following example. Let’s imagine you are planning to write a class that calculates the area of a rectangle. You can write this class using hard-coded values for the length and width of the rectangle, which is considered a form of tech debt because it makes the code inflexible and difficult to change in the future. If the requirements for the calculation change and the length and width of the rectangle need to be dynamic, this class will not be able to accommodate that change. The code will have to be modified, making it harder to maintain and test. If you weren’t in rush and you wanted to write this code with less debt, you could have passed the length and width as arguments.
Ok. so now that we know what tech debt is, the next question is what causes tech debt? There are a few common reasons. One is the pressure to release a product quickly. In order to meet a deadline or beat the competition, developers may take shortcuts or make compromises on code quality. This can lead to code that is difficult to maintain or upgrade in the long run.
Another cause is a lack of planning or foresight. Developers may not have considered the long-term implications of certain decisions and as a result, they create systems that are difficult to maintain or scale.
Another cause can be the lack of proper tools or technologies to support the software, this will lead to adding more and more patches to maintain the current state of the software, and this is where the technical debt starts to accumulate.
It’s also worth noting that tech debt is not always a bad thing. Sometimes, it’s necessary to take on a little bit of tech debt in order to move forward and make progress. The key is to be aware of it and to manage it effectively.
The impact of tech debt on software development
The impact of tech debt on software development can be substantial. It can slow down the development process, making it more difficult to add new features or fix bugs. It can also make it harder to maintain and update existing software, leading to increased costs and longer development cycles.
In addition, tech debt can also lead to a host of other problems such as increased risk of software bugs, security vulnerabilities, and poor performance. It can also negatively impact the user experience, making it more difficult for users to interact with the software.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. While tech debt can be a real pain, there are ways to manage and reduce it. In the next section, I am going to dig into some strategies for managing and reducing tech debt so that you can get back to what you do best — creating amazing software.
Strategies for managing and reducing tech debt
First and foremost, it’s important to establish a system for tracking and measuring tech debt. This could include creating a backlog of technical debt items, assigning each a priority level, and regularly reviewing and updating the list. This will help ensure that the most pressing issues are addressed in a timely manner.
Another strategy is to set aside dedicated time and resources for addressing tech debt. This could be in the form of regular “tech debt sprints” where the development team focuses solely on addressing technical debt items, or incorporating tech debt reduction into the regular development process.
It’s also important to involve the entire development team in the tech debt management process. This could include educating team members on the importance of reducing tech debt and involving them in the prioritization and decision-making process.
Another strategy is to refactor code regularly. It’s much easier to address small issues as they arise rather than waiting until they become bigger problems. This can be accomplished by regularly reviewing and refactoring code, setting up code reviews to catch potential issues, and using automated tools to help identify code that could benefit from refactoring.
Finally, consider using external experts to help assess and address tech debt. This could include hiring a consultant to conduct a technical debt audit, or bringing in a specialized team to help address specific technical debt issues.
Best practices for avoiding tech debt in the first place
When it comes to avoiding tech debt, the key is to stay on top of things from the very beginning. Here are a few best practices to keep in mind:
Plan for the future. When you’re designing and building a new system, think about how it will evolve over time. Will you need to add new features? Will the data it handles grow? Will it need to integrate with other systems? Make sure the design can accommodate these changes.
Keep it simple. The more complex a system is, the more opportunities there are for things to go wrong. Try to keep your design as simple as possible, and avoid over-engineering solutions.
Automate as much as possible. Automating tasks like testing, deployment, and monitoring can help you catch issues early and make it easier to make changes.
Keep an eye on your dependencies. If you’re using open-source libraries or other external dependencies, make sure they’re well-maintained and keep an eye out for security vulnerabilities.
Keep learning. Technology is constantly evolving, and what was state-of-the-art yesterday may be outdated today. Make sure you and your team are staying up-to-date with the latest best practices and technologies.
By following these best practices, you’ll be well on your way to avoiding tech debt and keeping your software development efforts running smoothly. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
Software tools to help with tech debt
Here is a list of tools that can help with managing tech debt:
SonarQube — a code quality management tool that can identify and track technical debt
CodeClimate — a platform for monitoring and improving code quality, including tracking technical debt
GitLab — a web-based Git repository manager that includes built-in code quality and security features for managing technical debt
TechDebt.io — a tool for tracking and visualizing technical debt across multiple code repositories
Crucible — a code review tool from Atlassian that can be used to identify and track technical debt
CodeScene — a tool that analyzes codebase to identify hotspots and tech debt
CodeReview — A chrome extension that helps developers to identify the technical debt while they code.
Debt Collective- a tool that helps to prioritize and manage technical debt by integrating with agile boards and ticketing systems.
It’s worth noting that these are just a few examples and there are many other tools available, depending on the specific needs of your organization.
Case study of a tech debt management in action
Let me share a personal story and I hope it helps to give you an idea how I solved my own tech debt issue. Obviously there is more than one way to skin a cat, but it’s how I did it.
Years ago, I joined a new development team that was working on cutting-edge technology. However, it quickly became clear that the team had a significant amount of tech debt. The codebase was convoluted, and the development process was slow and error-prone.
The issues caused by the tech debt were numerous. For one, the team was constantly putting out fires caused by bugs and performance issues. These issues were often the result of poor code design and a lack of proper testing. Additionally, new features were difficult to implement, and the team found it hard to keep up with customer demands.
I was assigned to solve this issue. I started by conducting a thorough code review, identifying the areas of the codebase that were causing the most issues. I also started to implement a regular code review process, where all code changes were reviewed by at least one other developer before being deployed to production. I also created a solid CI/CD pipeline to catch the bugs before going to production.
Next, I established a “tech debt team” whose sole responsibility was to identify and prioritize tech debt items for the development team to tackle. This team was made up of developers, QA engineers, and other stakeholders, and we met regularly to discuss and prioritize tech debt items.
We also started to implement a phased approach to managing the tech debt. This involved first addressing the most critical issues and then gradually working on the less critical ones. We also established a clear set of metrics to track the progress of the effort.
As we worked on reducing the tech debt, we saw a significant improvement in the stability and performance of our software. We were also able to deliver new features to customers more quickly. The team morale improved, and the developers were more productive.
In the end, our efforts to manage the tech debt were successful. We were able to improve the quality of our codebase and the development process. It was a lot of hard work, but it was worth it. Our customers were happy, and our team was proud of the software we were delivering. It was a great learning experience for the team and for me.
References
“Managing Technical Debt: Strategies for Managing and Reducing Technical Debt” by Kim Pries and Michael C. Feathers
“Technical Debt: Managing Technical Change” by Andrew J. Koke and Michael C. Feathers
“Technical Debt in Practice” by Jens Coldewey, Mario Winter, and Frank Herrmann
“Technical Debt: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” by Elio Damaggio and Antonio Rizzo
“Software Aging and Rejuvenation: Managing Technical Debt” by Vijayalakshmi Atluri and Anand Ranganathan
“Technical Debt: Managing the Trade-Offs of Agile Software Development” by Mirko Novakovic
“Managing Technical Debt: A Systematic Approach” by Bhanu Prasad and Narendra Jussien
I hope you enjoyed reading this. If you’d like to support me as a writer consider signing up to become a Medium member. It’s just $5 a month and you get unlimited access to Medium.
Level Up Coding
Thanks for being a part of our community! Before you go:
👏 Clap for the story and follow the author 👉
📰 View more content in the Level Up Coding publication
🔔 Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Newsletter
🚀👉 Join the Level Up talent collective and find an amazing job