Technical debt is the nightmare for every software company. It becomes a serious and major issue if left unattended for long. It then becomes too hard to bring any change in the codes. It results ina chain reaction as well. A simple change in a code can lead to complex issues in other parts in the code. These changes are considered as the debt whichhas to be paid in future. But technical debt is not a bad thing. It sometimes helps a software team to move with their projects forward.
ReasonsOf Tech Debt
Technical debt can occur in your business project at any point of time.It affects the development journey of your project as well. It can occur for various reasons. It can come as a form of a scope creep or due to an under-estimation of the size of any task. Also unaccounted dependencies as well as high priority tasks taking over planned tasks can result in technical debts. Very small reasons like over depending on staff can lead to tech debts as well. A team member falling sickor went on leave for a vacation may lead to a debt trap even. It gets even more severe when a team is required to deal with various dynamic requirements.
Consensus Is Required
It is essential that there is a consensus between the developers and the project managers about tech debt. The technical team may feel that design dependencies are technical debts;others may think that building new features to fix bugs is the reason. In such a situation, there is bound to be difference in ideas and thoughts in additional works for the development of codes. Each and every member must agree that whatever extra work they have to do, in whatever kind, is a technical debt. If it is unpaid, it will keep accumulating and become complex issue in the future. So, understanding the reason and working on it amicably, is essential.
Keep Updated Always
It is essential to keep codes updated and in proper direction. If there is a third party involved, you can use several governance tools for the codes. It will help you to analyse static codes in real time. Document the detected debt instances precisely to focus on it. You can also use a simple excel file on your own for such proper documentations and further implementation of remedial measures. For proper updating you must build sustainability, automate your unit tests, and refactor aggressively to get the best and most effective results.
Plan It Strategically
Just like credit card debt, paying off tech debt also needs proper planning. Like you had availed the best consolidation loansto pay off all your multiple loans at a time, you must also have the same in case of technical debt release. The EMIs in your loans are just the ERIs here. If you equate your release instalments properly, then you can easily get rid of your seemingly unmanageable tech debt. What you need to do is only dedicate a very small portion of your efforts in iterationfor refactoring process.
