Technical debt in Agile teams

What is it?

Technical debt occurs when developers choose to take shortcuts or use suboptimal methods to complete a project quickly or with fewer resources. This can happen for a variety of reasons, such as tight deadlines, lack of resources or expertise, or unexpected problems that arise during development.

History

The term was coined by Ward Cunningham in 1992 to describe the challenges developers face when they prioritize short-term goals over long-term sustainability.

The history of technical debt fixes can be traced back to the early days of software development when programmers first began to realize the importance of creating modular and reusable code. In the 1960s and 1970s, pioneers in software engineering such as Edsger W. Dijkstra and Donald E. Knuth developed principles for writing high-quality code that emphasized clarity, simplicity, and maintainability.

However, as software systems grew in size and complexity, developers began to face increasing pressure to deliver code quickly and cheaply. This led to a proliferation of shortcuts and workarounds that created technical debt, which in turn led to increased costs, slower development cycles, and reduced reliability.

Examples of technical debt

• Code duplication: This results from copy-pasting code instead of refactoring it into reusable functions or modules. Code duplication can make maintenance difficult and increase the likelihood of introducing bugs.

• Outdated libraries and frameworks: Using outdated libraries and frameworks can make the software vulnerable to security breaches and hinder its ability to integrate with new features or updates.

• Lack of automated tests: Automated tests help catch bugs and regressions before they make it into production. Without tests, it becomes difficult to guarantee the quality and stability of the software.

• Un-Optimized database queries: Poorly optimized database queries can lead to slow page load times and poor user experience. Optimizing queries can reduce load times and improve performance.

• Unmaintainable code: Code that is difficult to understand and modify can make it hard to maintain the software over time. It can also increase the likelihood of introducing bugs or breaking existing functionality.

• Technical debt from previous developers: Sometimes, technical debt is inherited from previous developers who took shortcuts or did not document their code properly. This can make it difficult for new developers to work on the codebase and maintain the software.

How to address technical debt and fix

To fix the technical debt, you need to identify and prioritize the areas of your codebase that need attention. This can be done by reviewing your code, talking to your development team, and analyzing your product roadmap to determine which areas of your code are most critical to your business.

Once you have identified the areas that need attention, you can take several steps to address the technical debt:

• Refactor code: This involves restructuring your code to make it cleaner, more organized, and easier to maintain. This can involve breaking down complex code into smaller, more manageable components, removing duplicate code, or improving the architecture of your codebase.

• Write unit tests: Unit tests are automated tests that verify the behavior of small pieces of your code. They can help you catch bugs and errors early on, reducing the cost of fixing issues later. By writing unit tests, you can ensure that changes you make to your code don't introduce new bugs or regressions.

• Upgrade dependencies: Dependencies are external libraries or frameworks that your code relies on. If these dependencies become outdated, they can create security vulnerabilities or compatibility issues. Upgrading your dependencies can help you keep your code up-to-date and avoid technical debt.

• Adopt best practices: Following coding standards and best practices can help you write cleaner, more maintainable code. This can include using naming conventions, following coding style guides, or avoiding complex or overly clever code.

• Prioritize technical debt: As you work to fix the technical debt, it's important to prioritize your efforts based on the impact on your business. You may want to focus on the areas of your code most critical to your product or causing the most issues for your development team.

Conclusion

Fixing technical debt requires a concerted effort to identify, prioritize, and address the most critical issues in your codebase. By taking steps to refactor code, write unit tests, upgrade dependencies, adopt best practices, and prioritize your efforts, you can reduce technical debt and improve the long-term maintainability and stability of your codebase.