How to Reduce Technical Debt in Software Development
Technical debt is the idea that cutting corners or postponing tasks to finish a project or accomplish a goal more quickly ultimately results in more rework. In the software development domain, there are times when a development team opts to deliver less elegant, less efficient, or less thoroughly tested code when delivering a quick solution to meet immediate project requirements.
In some cases, making that trade-off is essential to outperforming rivals in the market or meeting consumer demand. But these choices eventually accrue technical debt. Similar to accumulating financial debt, resolving unresolved issues becomes more expensive the longer they remain unresolved. Later, your team will need to “make up” for these shortcomings by reworking, refactoring, or patching specific system components.
Despite flawless execution, it is uncommon to find projects with no technical debt, as it cannot be avoided altogether, and in some instances, it is even necessary. However, it must be managed well to prevent it from negatively impacting the long-term software development process. This article will walk you through some of the ways you can reduce code debt and manage it efficiently.
The following are some tactics that your development teams can employ to control and lower your tech debt:
- Conducting Regular Code Reviews
- Embracing Automated Testing
- Implement A Culture of Constant Refactoring
- Adopt Pair or Mob Programming, If Possible
- Measure and Document Technical Debt
1. Conducting Regular Code Reviews
Conducting regular code reviews is one way to reduce technical debt. It can help you identify and address it early in development, which can bring many benefits.
- The code review will aid in the exchange of knowledge and experiences through discussions and serve as an excellent learning opportunity for the reviewer.
- Moreover, it fosters a culture of collective code ownership, where team members take responsibility for the overall dependability and quality of the codebase. This promotes cooperation and shared responsibility for the purpose of managing code debt.
- When developers know their code will be reviewed, they tend to practice a little more due diligence in the coding process. This guarantees coding standard compliance, minimises bugs and performance problems, and lowers code debt.
2. Embracing Automated Testing
Implementing automated testing practices is a tried-and-true way to identify defects in the code as early as possible. Many automated testing tools are available, allowing the development team to guarantee that codebase changes do not add additional technical debt and act as a safety net for refactoring. It improves the quality of the code from the ground up, streamlining the development process and keeping track of the code debt.
3. Implement A Culture of Constant Refactoring
Encouraging a culture of constant refactoring, which involves restructuring legacy code without changing its external behaviour, will make it easier to maintain, understand, and grow. It is another essential part of modern software development and a fundamental exercise in agile approaches like extreme programming. So, set aside time for intentional and systematic code refactoring.
Focus on refactoring code that is more likely to change in the future, such as code that links to other modules or systems that are evolving. Make sure to test the refactored code thoroughly before deploying it. This practice can help you ensure that you are consistently taking care of tech debt by monitoring the amount of work your team is putting into new projects, refactoring, and reworking.
4. Adopt Pair or Mob programming, If Possible
Adopt pair programming or mob programming if it makes sense. It is an alternative approach to code review for reducing tech debt. Pair programming or code review is up to you. Pair programming involves two or more software engineers jointly delivering real-time feedback on your software, and there will also be very short feedback cycles.
- As previously mentioned, pair programming involves two developers working on a project simultaneously. It can help you stay on course and avoid over-engineering, particularly when combined with test-driven development, which emphasises small steps and simple design.
- As developers collaborate on tasks, pair programming naturally encourages communication among them, allowing them to express their ideas and overcome obstacles as a team.
- This communication, in turn, helps developers better understand the problems at hand, thereby reducing the code debt.
5. Measure and Document Technical Debt
Utilising tools and different metrics to evaluate and quantify technical debt is another method of managing it. It will enable you to establish realistic goals for paying off debt and track your development over time. The following are a few metrics used to gauge code debt:
- Code metrics: These encompass a range of metrics, including cyclomatic complexity and code duplication. High code debt is frequently indicated by high values in these metrics.
- Defect density: This is calculated by dividing the total number of known defects by the code’s line count. Frequently, a high defect density indicates a high level of tech debt.
- Code churn: It is a metric that measures how frequently code is changed. Code churn, or the frequency at which parts of the code are rewritten or altered, is a strong indicator of software code debt.
- Time-to-market: Developing new features takes longer when developers have to navigate and manage a more complex codebase; as a result, it adds technical debt. A longer time to market for new features might indicate that code debt is getting worse.
Technical debt must be tracked and documented for the benefit of team members and stakeholders. Make sure that everyone understands how code debt affects development quality and speed so that everyone shares responsibility for finding a solution. One of the most serious concerns is failing to address tech debt. Keep track of it and incorporate it into your development conversations on a regular basis if you plan to use it effectively.
So, the article discussed some of the ways you can reduce technical debt in software development. However, bear in mind that it is often unnecessary and impractical to eliminate code debt. In some cases, it may be better to accept the debt and deal with it later or to prioritise certain pieces of debt over others. Ultimately, it is essential to consider the cost of code debt before making a decision. Your objective should be to properly manage it while striking a balance between paying off current debt and adding new features.
Interesting Links:
Agile Strategies for a Debt-Free Development Cycle.
Hi, my name is Rahil. I work at YUHIRO Global and I help web agencies and software companies from Europe to build developer teams in India.