Some Types of Technical Debt

The word technical debt is all about delayed jobs and immature objects which creates a debt because they cost extra expenses in the future under the name of increased change costs for evolution as well as maintenance. Basically, you need to recognize the types of technical debt that a system can occur. Take a look at some:

Code that just works, but nobody can tell why and how

Basically performance critical or security critical code coded by a wizard who has long gone from the company constitute such code. It may be beautiful but if nobody in the development team acknowledges it. It works like a time bomb which requires changing or fixing someday by some body.

Backward and forward compatibility devices and compromises

It is an important short term debt. But the cost ultimately increases the longer you make these compromises

Out-dated libraries and middleware stock

You are late in applying upgrades and patches. Even though the code you have at present it stable, there are some risks of not re-written safety vulnerabilities. The longer it carries on, the more behind you’ll be left and the higher will be the risk.

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Copy-paste and duplicity

It is one of the biggest monsters of tech debt and static evaluation tool. And, almost everybody experiences it. But, how bad could it be? The expenses rely on how many clone the developers have created, and how frequently do they require amendment, how easily can the copies be find and how can you track them. If the member who has made the copies performs a good job of keeping track of the copied code, then it may not cost much.

Bugs in the code and unsolved static evaluation findings

The risk and expense depends on the number of bugs and warnings you have and how bad they are! But, if they are truly creating problem, they should be fixed instantly.

Inappropriate designing or execution

Consuming too much memory or a lot of network bandwidth or processor is bad for a system. Though hardware is available for cheap, but these expenses add to a great once you scale out.

Inconstant usage of programming patterns or idioms

Developers either don’t acknowledge the present pattern or don’t like them. They may wish to introduce new ones or just wish to change it all. It is frustrating for the developers. But the real expenses of living this condition is way less than trying to clear it all.

Malfunctioning or poor handling.

It continuously bites in the production segment. And poor error handling does cost a lot if you don’t get it right. Thus, getting it right sets the missing code right.

Code which isn’t standards compliant

Magic numbers, missing comments or the code which requires tidying are a pain in the ass. However, they are a little easy to clean because of the standard refactoring procedure.

With so many types of technical debt, it is very important that all the debt gets cleared out as soon as possible. You can always go for consolidate debt loans to get debt-free faster.