Collective Wisdom from the Experts 3
There are times when you must incur technical debt to meet a deadline or
implement a thin slice of a feature. Try not to be in this position, but if the situ-
ation absolutely demands it, then go ahead. But (and this is a big but) you must
track technical debt and pay it back quickly, or things go rapidly downhill.
As soon as you make the decision to compromise, write a task card or log it in
your issue-tracking system to ensure that it does not get forgotten.
If you schedule repayment of the debt in the next iteration, the cost will be
minimal. Leaving the debt unpaid will accrue interest, and that interest should
be tracked to make the cost visible. This will emphasize the effect on busi-
ness value of the project’s technical debt and enables appropriate prioritization
of the repayment. The choice of how to calculate and track the interest will
depend on the particular project, but track it you must.
Pay off technical debt as soon as possible. It would be imprudent to do otherwise.