Technical Debt Isn't Always Bad
Technical debt, the idea that shortcuts and quick fixes in software development accrue interest over time in the form of additional time and effort required to maintain the system, is often seen as a negative thing. However, this perspective oversimplifies the concept of technical debt and fails to recognize that, in certain circumstances, it can be a valuable tool for software development teams.
Let’s first consider an analogy with “normal” (financial) debt. From a typical layperson’s perspective, debt has strong negative connotations: you owe too much on your credit card, and you can’t afford to make the total monthly payment, so in the long term, you end up paying way more than the original cost of the items you purchased.
However, in a business context, it often makes sense to intentionally take on debt to scale up your business. For example, let’s imagine a simplified world in which your bank is willing to guarantee for perpetuity 4% interest on your deposits. If you then come across an opportunity to borrow at 3% interest rates, what’s your optimal strategy for maximizing your profits? Of course, you would want to borrow billions and billions of dollars at 3%, deposit them into the bank account earning 4% and pocket the 1% difference for yourself.
More realistically, a business might take on financial debt to purchase equipment or expand its operations, allowing it to increase its capacity and take on more customers. Similarly, a development team might incur technical debt by taking shortcuts or making trade-offs in the short term to quickly deliver new features or respond to changes in the market.
If there are strong “first to market” effects, delivering too late could mean the end of your business. Hence even if investing time upfront could hypothetically save you time in the long run, there might not actually be a long run!
If market conditions are too uncertain, you might be spending a lot of upfront investment on a feature or project that gets scrapped when it turns out it’s not what customers want. In such a scenario, it may be worth releasing your software with little to no upfront investment to “test the waters” and only follow up with repaying the technical debt once we’re assured there’s demand for the product.
Technical debt can be used to facilitate experimentation and innovation. By embracing the risk of technical debt, development teams can explore new ideas and approaches, leading to new and improved products and services. The quick iteration allowed by incurring technical debt can be an essential part of the development process, especially for startups or companies trying to enter new markets.
However, not all technical debt is created equal. Just as a business that takes on too much financial debt can become overwhelmed by interest payments and struggle to remain competitive, a development team that incurs too much technical debt can become bogged down by maintenance and support issues, making it difficult to continue delivering value to customers and stakeholders.
In both cases, the key to success is balance and management. A business that carefully manages its financial debt, paying off its obligations on time and using its resources wisely, can thrive and grow. Similarly, a development team that actively manages its technical debt, prioritizing and paying off its obligations as needed, can stay competitive and deliver value to its customers and stakeholders.
In conclusion, while technical debt is often seen as a negative thing, it can also be a valuable tool for software development teams in certain circumstances, just as financial debt can be a valuable tool for businesses. Both can be used to facilitate growth and increase capacity, but both must be managed carefully to avoid negative consequences.