Kruchten Philippe, Nord Robert, Ozkaya Ipek. Managing Technical Debt: Reducing Friction in Software Development

Addison-Wesley Professional, 2019. — 272 p. — ISBN10: 013564593X; ISBN13: 978-0135645932.“This is an incredibly wise and useful book. The authors have considerable real-world experience in delivering quality systems that matter, and their expertise shines through in these pages. Here you will learn what technical debt is, what is it not, how to manage it, and how to pay it down in responsible ways. This is a book I wish I had when I was just beginning my career. The authors present a myriad of case studies, born from years of experience, and offer a multitude of actionable insights for how to apply it to your project.”
–Grady Booch, IBM FellowMaster Best Practices for Managing Technical Debt to Promote Software Quality and ProductivityAs software systems mature, earlier design or code decisions made in the context of budget or schedule constraints increasingly impede evolution and innovation. This phenomenon is called technical debt, and practical solutions exist. In Managing Technical Debt, three leading experts introduce integrated, empirically developed principles and practices that any software professional can use to gain control of technical debt in any software system.Using real-life examples, the authors explain the forms of technical debt that afflict software-intensive systems, their root causes, and their impacts. They introduce proven approaches for identifying and assessing specific sources of technical debt, limiting new debt, and “paying off” debt over time. They describe how to establish managing technical debt as a core software engineering practice in your organization.
Discover how technical debt damages manageability, quality, productivity, and morale–and what you can do about it
Clarify root causes of debt, including the linked roles of business goals, source code, architecture, testing, and infrastructure
Identify technical debt items, and analyze their costs so you can prioritize action
Choose the right solution for each technical debt item: eliminate, reduce, or mitigate
Integrate software engineering practices that minimize new debtManaging Technical Debt will be a valuable resource for every software professional who wants to accelerate innovation in existing systems, or build new systems that will be easier to maintain and evolve.About the Author
Philippe Kruchten is a professor of software engineering at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He joined academia in 2004, after a 30+-year career in industry, where he worked mostly with large software-intensive systems design in the domains of telecommunication, defense, aerospace, and transportation. Some of his experience in software development is embodied in the Rational Unified Process (RUP), whose development he directed from 1995 until 2003. He’s the author or co-author of Rational Unified Process: An Introduction (Addison-Wesley, 1998), RUP Made Easy: A Practitioner’s Guide (Addison-Wesley, 2003), and Software Engineering with UPEDU (Addison-Wesley, 2003), as well as earlier books about programming in Pascal and Ada. He received a doctoral degree in information systems (1986) and a mechanical engineering degree (1975) from French engineering schools.Robert Nord is a principal researcher at the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute, where he works to develop and communicate effective methods and practices for agile at scale, software architecture, and managing technical debt. He is coauthor of the practitioner-oriented books Applied Software Architecture (Addison-Wesley, 2000) and Documenting Software Architectures: Views and Beyond (Addison-Wesley, 2011) and lectures on architecture-centric approaches. He received a PhD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University and is a distinguished member of the ACM.Ipek Ozkaya is a principal researcher at the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute. Her primary work includes developing techniques for improving software development efficiency and system evolution, with an emphasis on software architecture practices, software economics, agile development, and managing technical debt in complex, large-scale software-intensive systems. In addition, as part of her responsibilities, she works with government and industry organizations to improve their software architecture practices. She received a PhD in Computational Design from Carnegie Mellon University. Ozkaya is a senior member of IEEE and the 2019—2021 editor-in-chief of IEEE Software magazine.Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Contents at a GlanceForewordAbout the Authors
About the Contributors
Acronyms
SEI Figures for Managing Technical Debt
Part I: Exploring the Technical Debt Landscape
Chapter 1. Friction in Software Development
The Promise of Managing Technical Debt
Technical Debt A-B-C
Examples of Technical Debt
Your Own Story About Technical Debt?
Who Is This Book For?
Principles of Technical Debt Management
Navigating the Concepts of the Book
What Can You Do Today?
For Further Reading
Chapter 2. What Is Technical Debt?
Mapping the Territory
The Technical Debt Landscape
Technical Debt Items: Artifacts, Causes, and Consequences
Principal and Interest
Cost and Value
Potential Debt versus Actual Debt
The Technical Debt Timeline
What Can You Do Today?
For Further Reading
Chapter 3. Moons of Saturn—The Crucial Role of Context
“It Depends…”
Three Case Studies: Moons of Saturn
Technical Debt in Context
What Can You Do Today?
For Further Reading
Part II: Analyzing Technical Debt
Chapter 4. Recognizing Technical Debt
Where Does It Hurt?
What Are the Visible Consequences of Technical Debt?
Writing a Technical Debt Description
Understanding the Business Context for Assessing Technical Debt
Assessing Artifacts Across the Technical Debt Landscape
What Can You Do Today?
For Further Reading
Chapter 5. Technical Debt and the Source Code
Looking for the Magic Wand
Understand Key Business Goals
Identify Questions About the Source Code
Define the Observable Measurement Criteria
Select and Apply an Analysis Tool
Document the Technical Debt Items
Then Iterate
What Happens Next?
What Can You Do Today?
For Further Reading
Chapter 6. Technical Debt and Architecture
Beyond the Code
Ask the Designers
Examine the Architecture
Examine the Code to Get Insight into the Architecture
The Case of Technical Debt in the Architecture of Phoebe
What Can You Do Today?
For Further Reading
Chapter 7. Technical Debt and Production
Beyond the Architecture, the Design, and the Code
Build and Integration Debt
Testing Debt
Infrastructure Debt
The Case of Technical Debt in the Production of Phoebe
What Can You Do Today?
For Further Reading
Part III: Deciding What Technical Debt to Fix
Chapter 8. Costing the Technical Debt
Shining an Economic Spotlight on Technical Debt
Refine the Technical Debt Description
Calculate the Cost of Remediation
Calculate the Recurring Interest
Compare Cost and Benefit
Manage Technical Debt Items Collectively
What Can You Do Today?
For Further Reading
Chapter 9. Servicing the Technical Debt
Weighing the Costs and Benefits
Risk Exposure
Opportunity Cost
Paths for Servicing Technical Debt
The Release Pipeline
The Business Case for Technical Debt as an Investment
What Can You Do Today?
For Further Reading
Part IV: Managing Technical Debt Tactically and Strategically
Chapter 10. What Causes Technical Debt?
The Perplexing Art of Identifying What Causes Debt
The Roots of Technical Debt
What Causes Technical Debt?
Causes Rooted in the Business
Causes Arising from Change in Context
Causes Associated with the Development Process
Causes Arising from People and Team
To Conclude
What Can You Do Today?
For Further Reading
Chapter 11. Technical Debt Credit Check
Identifying Causes: Technical Debt Credit Check
Four Focus Areas for Understanding the State of a Project
Diagnosing the Causes of Technical Debt in Phoebe
Diagnosing the Causes of Technical Debt in Tethys
What Can You Do Today?
For Further Reading
Chapter 12. Avoiding Unintentional Debt
Software Engineering in a Nutshell
Code Quality and Unintentional Technical Debt
Architecture, Production, and Unintentional Technical Debt
What Can You Do Today?
For Further Reading
Chapter 13. Living with Your Technical Debt
Your Technical Debt Toolbox
On the Three Moons of Saturn …
Technical Debt and Software Development
FinaleTechnical Debt Description