Software delivery & architecture · Core

Technical debt

Also called: tech debt

ELI5

Shortcuts or old choices that make future work harder.

Used in conversation

“The roadmap reserves capacity to reduce technical debt.”

Definition

Future cost and constraint created by expedient technical choices, deferred maintenance or weakened design.

Here “Technical debt” means: Future cost and constraint created by expedient technical choices, deferred maintenance or weakened design.

Pitch context

You will see “Technical debt” in product strategy decks, roadmaps, experiments and architecture reviews when the discussion reaches software delivery & architecture.

Why it matters: It helps a reader interpret software delivery & architecture without confusing the measure, decision, role or evidence being discussed.

Sources & evidence · 2

Direct term-level sources and supporting source families.