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Technical Debt in Practice: How to Find It and Fix It
The practical implications of technical debt for the entire software lifecycle; with examples and case studies.
Technical debt in software is incurred when developers take shortcuts and make ill-advised technical decisions in the initial phases of a project, only to be confronted with the need for costly and labor-intensive workarounds later. This book offers advice on how to avoid technical debt, how to locate its sources, and how to remove it. It focuses on the practical implications of technical debt for the entire software life cycle, with examples and case studies from companies that range from Boeing to Twitter.
Technical debt is normal; it is part of most iterative development processes. But if debt is ignored, over time it may become unmanageably complex, requiring developers to spend all of their effort fixing bugs, with no time to add new features--and after all, new features are what customers really value. The authors explain how to monitor technical debt, how to measure it, and how and when to pay it down. Broadening the conventional definition of technical debt, they cover requirements debt, implementation debt, testing debt, architecture debt, documentation debt, deployment debt, and social debt. They intersperse technical discussions with "Voice of the Practitioner" sidebars that detail real-world experiences with a variety of technical debt issues.
Technical debt in software is incurred when developers take shortcuts and make ill-advised technical decisions in the initial phases of a project, only to be confronted with the need for costly and labor-intensive workarounds later. This book offers advice on how to avoid technical debt, how to locate its sources, and how to remove it. It focuses on the practical implications of technical debt for the entire software life cycle, with examples and case studies from companies that range from Boeing to Twitter.
Technical debt is normal; it is part of most iterative development processes. But if debt is ignored, over time it may become unmanageably complex, requiring developers to spend all of their effort fixing bugs, with no time to add new features--and after all, new features are what customers really value. The authors explain how to monitor technical debt, how to measure it, and how and when to pay it down. Broadening the conventional definition of technical debt, they cover requirements debt, implementation debt, testing debt, architecture debt, documentation debt, deployment debt, and social debt. They intersperse technical discussions with "Voice of the Practitioner" sidebars that detail real-world experiences with a variety of technical debt issues.
- GenresTechnology
288 pages, Paperback
Published August 17, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 2, 2022
A very good book on technical debt. Worth reading.
Takes a moderate approach of "not all debt is bad as long as you take it on intentionally and have a plan to pay it back."
Identifies 6 different types of debt:
Requirements
Architecture
Implementation
Testing
Documentation
Social
Discusses each and how to identify its presence and how to pay it off. Has a few case studies.
My only complaint is that it is a bit too academic and it is rather slow reading after the first couple chapters.
Takes a moderate approach of "not all debt is bad as long as you take it on intentionally and have a plan to pay it back."
Identifies 6 different types of debt:
Requirements
Architecture
Implementation
Testing
Documentation
Social
Discusses each and how to identify its presence and how to pay it off. Has a few case studies.
My only complaint is that it is a bit too academic and it is rather slow reading after the first couple chapters.
January 2, 2023
Good introduction to technical debt but with some errors
The book provides a good introduction to tech debt with case studies. The book describes different kinds of debts along with how they occur and how to tackle them. That said, I do not agree with some or their definitions of debt, e.g., requirement debt. Also, there were instances of incorrect conclusions due to misinterpretations and cause-effect flippings.
As tech debt is a tricky subject and there are very few resources on the topic, I think this book can serves as a good resource to start learning about tech debt provided the readers is careful in consuming the content/errors.
The book provides a good introduction to tech debt with case studies. The book describes different kinds of debts along with how they occur and how to tackle them. That said, I do not agree with some or their definitions of debt, e.g., requirement debt. Also, there were instances of incorrect conclusions due to misinterpretations and cause-effect flippings.
As tech debt is a tricky subject and there are very few resources on the topic, I think this book can serves as a good resource to start learning about tech debt provided the readers is careful in consuming the content/errors.
October 11, 2021
The book goes not only the concept of technical debt and how to identify and avoid it but also brings light through the real life case examples on how to fix it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews