Technical debt is a concept in software development that describes the future cost of choosing a quick or easy solution now, versus a better but more time-consuming approach. 

When developers prioritize speed over code quality, it leads to suboptimal solutions that require refactoring or improvement in the future. This creates double the work for teams, consuming their budgets, resources, and project timelines. 

For instance, using a deprecated library because it’s familiar or hardcoding values that should be configurable. This may seem efficient in the moment, but it’ll lead to costly rework later, such as:

• Rewriting brittle code that breaks whenever a related feature changes.

• Refactoring a module that wasn’t designed to scale with increased users or data.

• Replacing outdated dependencies that no longer receive security updates.

• Untangling tightly coupled components so features can be built and deployed independently.

Traditional software development programs often follow a phase-based approach to development, consisting of: feature development, alpha, beta, and golden master (GM).

Each software release begins with a phase where new features are built, and (ideally) residual issues left over from the last release are addressed.

• Alpha: When each feature is implemented and ready for testing. 

• Beta: begins when enough bugs have been fixed to enable customer feedback. Unfortunately, while the team is busy fixing enough bugs to reach beta, new bugs appear, contributing to technical debt. It's a chronic case of whack-a-mole: fix one bug, and two more pop up. 

• Zero open bugs: This is usually achieved by fixing some known issues and deferring the rest to the next release. 

Procrastinating on bug fixes allows technical debt to accumulate and snowball. As the backlog grows, addressing it becomes more daunting. Development slows, timelines slip, and customers suffer from lingering defectsInstead of letting technical debt spiral out of control, adopting agile practices can provide a more sustainable approach.

Understanding technical debt means recognizing that not all debt is created equal. There main categories of technical debt include: 

• Deliberate debt: When teams knowingly take shortcuts to meet deadlines or ship features more quickly. It’s a conscious decision where developers understand they’re creating future work but choose speed over perfection. 

• Accidental debt: Poor code quality can happen unintentionally. A developer may misinterpret requirements or the team can lack experience with a particular technology. This type of technical debt emerges from honest mistakes rather than strategic choices. 

• Bit rot: Even good code can become problematic over time. As systems evolve, dependencies change, and new features get added, previously solid code can become outdated or incompatible with newer components.

Teams accumulate technical debt for several reasons, often without realizing it’s happening. Common causes of technical debt include: 

• Tight deadlines: When product management pushes for faster delivery, corners get cut. Quick fixes replace proper solutions, creating debt that compounds over time. 

• Lack of testing: Skipping testing might save time initially, but bugs that slip through create ongoing maintenance burdens that slow future development. 

• Poor communication: When agile project management practices break down, developers might misunderstand requirements or make assumptions that lead to rework. 

• Skill gaps: Teams working with unfamiliar technologies often create suboptimal solutions that need refinement once expertise grows. 

• Evolving requirements: As product strategy shifts, code that once made sense may no longer align with the current vision, effectively becoming technical debt.

The most challenging part of technical debt is that it’s often invisible until it begins causing real problems. By then, you’re already behind. Luckily, there are simple ways to identify it before it becomes a serious issue.

These are the most effective methods for identifying technical debt early: 

• Code reviews: Regular peer reviews often reveal areas where shortcuts were taken or complexity has grown beyond manageable levels. 

• Complexity metrics: Tools that measure code complexity can help identify problematic sections that require attention. High cyclomatic complexity or deep nesting often indicates areas ripe for refactoring. 

• Developer feedback: Team members working on the code daily can spot patterns and pain points that metrics might miss. Their insights are invaluable for identifying friction points that slow down the development process. 

• Performance monitoring: Slow response times or spikes in resource usage can indicate underlying technical issues that require attention. 

Recurring bugs or unexpected delays also signal hidden debt that’s slowing progress. When the same type of issues keep appearing or simple changes take longer than expected, it’s usually a sign that technical debt is impacting your team’s velocity.

Whether it's from quick fixes made under tight deadlines, evolving requirements, or outdated systems, technical debt can pile up. And chances are you’ve inherited some of this debt if you’ve worked with legacy code. 

However, these tips will help you manage existing debt and enable your team to focus on the fun stuff, like new feature development. 

1. Establish a clear definition of technical debt

Sometimes developers and product managers disagree about what constitutes technical debt. So let's put the controversy to bed right here:

There’s a temptation on the development side to characterize architectural work as technical debt. Depending on the nature of the change—like replacing a shortcut with the "real" solution versus splitting a monolithic code base into microservices—it may or may not be technical debt.

On the other side, product management often feels more urgency around building new features than fixing bugs or slow performance. 

To avoid either side becoming jaded, everyone must understand the distinction between technical debt, desired architectural changes in the code base, and new features. Clear communication between development and product management is equally as important to prioritize backlogs and evolve the codebase. 

2. Integrate testing into your workflow

Ensure that testing is integrated into the initial development cycle to identify and address early issues. Start by establishing a clear definition of done and avoiding deferring testing. 

Define “done” as not just functionality complete, but tested and ready for release. This means adding a separate testing task to the original user story. If testing isn’t done as part of the original story or bug fix, the original story or bug fix isn’t done. 

It's too easy to defer them, and this only invites technical debt.

3. Automate bugs away

When someone discovers a bug in the software, take the time to add an automated test that demonstrates it. Once the bug is fixed, rerun the test to ensure it passes. 

This is the core of test-driven development, a time-honored methodology for maintaining quality in agile development.

Changing the team's philosophy (and that of the team's stakeholders) on how to manage technical debt isn't easy. Sometimes cutting development time short to get to market sooner takes precedence. With that in mind, let's recap some action items for taming technical debt:

• Educate the product owner on the true cost of technical debt: Keep story point values accurate for future stories that require resolving existing technical debt.

• Modularize your architecture: Take a firm stance on technical debt in new components or libraries in the application. Once agility is visible in these new components, teams will naturally want to extend those practices to other parts of the code.

• Write automated tests: Nothing prevents bugs better than automated tests and continuous integration. When a new bug is found, write a new test to reproduce it and fix the issue. If that bug ever resurfaces, the automated test will catch it before customers do.

The concept of technical debt can be illustrated in a few simple examples:

Consider a team that hardcoded database connections instead of using a configuration system. This saves time initially, but creates problems when deploying to different environments. 

Another example is skipping proper error handling to meet a deadline, leaving the system vulnerable to crashes that require emergency fixes later. 

Good debt management might involve deliberately choosing a simpler algorithm that’s easier to understand and maintain, even if it’s slightly less efficient. Poor management looks like stacking multiple quick fixes on top of each other without addressing the root cause. 

Teams can use Jira to track, prioritize, and address technical debt alongside regular feature work. Create specific issue types for technical debt items and include them in your regular sprint planning process. 

Use resource planning features to allocate time for debt reduction, and leverage resource management tools to track processes. Set up workflows that make technical debt visible to all stakeholders, not just developers. 

With Rovo Dev, teams can take this even further by using AI to automate routine coding tasks and accelerate refactoring. Rovo Dev can build multi-step workflows, surface knowledge, and plan, generate, and review code at scale. By reducing manual effort in identifying, planning, and addressing technical debt, Rovo Dev helps teams deliver higher-quality software faster.

This transparency helps product managers understand the real cost of accumulated debt and makes it easier to justify time spent on maintenance work. 

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What is technical debt in scrum?

In scrum, technical debt represents work that needs to be done to maintain code quality and system health. Scrum teams address it by including debt items in sprint backlogs and treating them with the same priority as other work. 

How can you prevent technical debt?

Technical debt prevention starts with proper planning, regular peer reviews, and automated testing. Building a culture that values long-term code quality over short-term speed helps teams make better architectural decisions from the start. 

Is technical debt always bad?

Not necessarily. Strategic technical debt can be acceptable when teams consciously choose speed over perfection for valid business reasons. The key is managing it intentionally rather than letting it accumulate accidentally.

Who pays for technical debt?

Everyone pays for technical debt. Engineering teams spend more time on maintenance, while product teams experience slower feature delivery, and customers encounter more bugs. Both engineering and product stakeholders share responsibility for managing debt effectively. 

How do you measure technical debt?

Use tools like Jira to track debt items, measure resolution time, and monitor trends. Regular code audits, complexity metrics, and developer surveys can help quantify the scope and impact of accumulated debt.