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You're facing a client pushing for new features. How can you address technical debt responsibly?

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When your client is eager for new features, it's tempting to jump right in. However, it's crucial to balance their enthusiasm with the need to address technical debt—the accumulation of codebase inefficiencies that can hinder future development. Technical debt is like a financial debt; it incurs 'interest' in the form of extra work needed to maintain and build upon a suboptimal codebase. Addressing it responsibly means ensuring that your software remains maintainable and scalable, even as you add new features at your client's request.

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Anubhuti Sharma

DevOps Engineer at FICO | PMP? Certified | AWS Certified | Driving Automation, Scalability, and Project Success
Dexter Ramos

iOS Developer

1 Understand Debt

To responsibly address technical debt, you must first understand its nature and impact. Technical debt can arise from various sources: rushed code to meet deadlines, outdated documentation, or reliance on legacy systems. It's essential to communicate to your client that, like financial debt, technical debt can compound and lead to increased costs and decreased productivity if not managed properly. A clear explanation of these consequences can help set realistic expectations for feature development timelines.

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Anubhuti Sharma

DevOps Engineer at FICO | PMP? Certified | AWS Certified | Driving Automation, Scalability, and Project Success
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Balancing emerges when addressing a client pushing for new features while managing technical debt. This would involve proper communication to the client that explains what technical debt is, why it should be avoided and how it slowly eats away on project health long term - maintainability & performance. Remind them that if they ignore technical debt, it causes more cost and delays in the future. Suggest a plan that optimizes for both the development of new features and the management of technical debt. Recommend a gradual method where some time from each development cycle is allocated to fix technical debt Emphasize how this will lead to enhanced system stability, less bugs and facilitate easy future development.

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2 Prioritize Wisely

Prioritization is key when balancing new feature development with technical debt reduction. Evaluate the codebase and identify the most critical areas of debt that could impede new features or cause future issues. Convey this prioritization to your client, explaining that addressing the most significant technical debt will lead to a more robust and flexible application, ultimately benefiting their end-users and reducing long-term costs.

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3 Incremental Refactor

Refactoring—the process of restructuring existing computer code without changing its external behavior—is an effective way to address technical debt incrementally. Advise your client on the benefits of integrating refactoring into the development cycle. This approach allows for gradual improvements without halting feature development entirely. It's a strategic compromise that maintains progress while enhancing the codebase's health.

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4 Clear Communication

Clear communication with your client about the state of the technical debt and the proposed plan to address it is vital. Ensure they understand that while new features are important, a stable and efficient codebase is fundamental for their product's success. Regular updates about what has been improved and how it benefits the overall project will help manage their expectations and foster a collaborative relationship.

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5 Agile Approach

An agile approach to software development can be particularly effective in managing technical debt. This methodology involves short development cycles, or sprints, which allow for frequent reassessment of priorities. Inform your client that incorporating technical debt reduction into each sprint can ensure that new features and maintenance work proceed in tandem, thus preventing debt from spiraling out of control.

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6 Tech Debt Metrics

Finally, use metrics to monitor and communicate the level of technical debt. Metrics such as code churn, complexity, and coverage can provide objective data to demonstrate progress in reducing technical debt. Share these metrics with your client to show the tangible benefits of addressing technical debt, such as improved code quality and reduced error rates, which can help justify the time spent on these efforts.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Dexter Ramos

iOS Developer
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I find it helpful to keep in mind that it is better to develop features using simple implementation. Having complex implementation may lead to a technical debt if implemented rigidly. Remember to keep things modular as practically possible, prevent going overboard. If you go overboard, and have much free time, then do your best to make it! It will take time but you will improve.

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You're facing a client pushing for new features. How can you address technical debt responsibly?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Understand Debt

2 Prioritize Wisely

3 Incremental Refactor

4 Clear Communication

5 Agile Approach

6 Tech Debt Metrics

7 Here’s what else to consider

Computer Science

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You're facing a client pushing for new features. How can you address technical debt responsibly?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Understand Debt

2 Prioritize Wisely

3 Incremental Refactor

4 Clear Communication

5 Agile Approach

6 Tech Debt Metrics

7 Here’s what else to consider

Computer Science

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