Technical debt is the accumulated cost of choosing quick, short-term solutions instead of cleaner, more maintainable ones. Just like financial debt, technical debt incurs “interest” over time, making changes harder, increasing bugs, and slowing development. Debt can result from rushed deadlines, poor design, or outdated dependencies.
Why it matters
Unchecked technical debt leads to fragile systems, difficult refactoring, and reduced developer productivity. Managing debt involves prioritizing improvements, writing maintainable code, and setting aside time to address underlying issues.
Examples
Hard-coded logic that should be configurable, missing tests, or outdated libraries. Lessons like Technical Debt and AI discuss how debt impacts teams.