Technical Debt
Metaphor for the later effort caused by code that was solved sloppily, knowingly or unknowingly.
Technical debt describes the effort that arises when shortcuts are taken in code in order to deliver a result faster – for example a messy structure, missing tests or an outdated dependency that is knowingly left in place. As with financial debt, “interest” accrues: every further change at that spot becomes more laborious or riskier until the debt is paid off, that is, the code is reworked.
Not every debt is a mistake – sometimes it is a deliberate, documented decision to meet a deadline. It becomes problematic when it grows unnoticed and nobody knows any more which places are affected.
What Provimedia uses it for
Provimedia makes technical debt in code visible instead of letting it grow silently, and schedules its repayment as a task of its own.
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