What Is Technical Debt? Managing Risks in Software Projects

"Let's just make it work for now, we'll fix it later" — A phrase every developer has heard and said. But that "later" usually never comes. And accumulated bad decisions threaten your project's future. This is technical debt.

What Is Technical Debt?

Technical debt is the future cost created by shortcuts taken for quick results. Just like financial debt — when you borrow, interest accumulates. With technical debt, every shortcut means more work in the future.

Types of Technical Debt

1. Deliberate Technical Debt

Conscious shortcuts:

• "Let's ship the MVP fast, fix it later"
• "Deadline is close, let's take a shortcut"
• Controlled risk — fine if there's a plan

2. Accidental Technical Debt

From lack of knowledge:

• Junior developer mistakes
• Insufficient architectural design
• Wrong technology choices
• Not knowing best practices

3. Bit Rot

Accumulated over time:

• Outdated dependencies
• Code not adapted to changing requirements
• Stale documentation

Signs of Technical Debt

| Sign | Result | |------|--------| | Simple changes take hours | Productivity drop | | Every change creates new bugs | Quality decline | | New developer onboarding takes forever | Onboarding difficulty | | Writing tests is very hard | Low test coverage | | "Don't touch that code" fear | Innovation stops | | Deployment is scary | Increased risk | | Performance keeps degrading | User loss |

The Cost of Technical Debt

Research shows:

• Developers spend 42% of time dealing with technical debt
• Annual global cost: $1.52 trillion
• Development speed slows by 40% in large projects
• Critical bug rate increases 3x

How to Manage Technical Debt

1. Make It Visible

• Maintain a technical debt list
• Add technical debt items to sprints
• Track metrics (code coverage, complexity)

2. The 20% Rule

Dedicate 20% of each sprint to paying down tech debt.

3. Refactoring Strategy

• Small, continuous improvements (Boy Scout Rule)
• Large refactorings done with planning
• Test-backed refactoring

4. Code Quality Standards

• Mandatory code review
• Linting and formatting rules
• Required automated tests
• Documentation standards

5. Technology Maintenance

• Regularly update dependencies
• Replace deprecated APIs
• Apply security patches

Technical Debt Metrics

| Metric | Tool | |--------|------| | Code complexity (cyclomatic) | SonarQube | | Test coverage | Jest, Istanbul | | Code duplication | SonarQube, jscpd | | Dependency age | npm-check-updates | | Security vulnerabilities | npm audit, Snyk | | Build time | CI/CD metrics |

Explaining Tech Debt to Clients

Analogies for non-technical clients:

• "Like home maintenance — skip routine upkeep, and the roof collapses"
• "Like car service — skip oil changes, and the engine burns out"
• "If we don't spend 1 day now, we'll spend 1 week in 3 months"

Conclusion

Technical debt is inevitable — but manageable. Instead of aiming for zero technical debt, taking controlled, conscious debt and paying it down regularly is the key to sustainable software development.

If you'd like consulting on technical debt management and code quality, get in touch: info@cagribilgehan.com. Check out my projects: cagribilgehan.com