For every short-cut taken technical debt is added to a project. Taking that path may come from one of many factors, including inexperience, time constraints, scope creep, or lack of resources. Managing technical debt with a professional approach can reduce the high interest rate you may be currently experiencing and lower team stress. That technical burden can be properly managed by giving proper attention, time, and resources to paying down the debt on a regular basis. Explore ways to consistently reduce technical debt and discuss best practices with fellow debtors. Learn how your code score can improve and how you can avoid going bankrupt from a proper technical debt management approach.

1. Technical Debt
Management
Mark Niebergall

2. About Mark Niebergall
● Developing in PHP since 2005
● Working on occupational health screening
project
● Security: SSCP, CSSLP Certified
● PHP, databases, JavaScript
● Enjoy being outdoors

3. Niebergall
● German
● Ancestry.com: nickname for someone who
habitually failed to repay his debts, from
Middle High German nie ‘never’ + a
derivative of vergelten ‘to repay’

4. The Dig
● Request to dig a hole

5. The Dig
● Request to dig a hole

6. The Dig
● Request to dig a hole

7. The Dig
● Request to dig a hole

8. The Dig
● Request to dig a hole

9. University Bid Sales
● Aging computers and hardware
● Obsolete items
● Never opened items
● Broken items needing repair or parts
● Piles of cables and adapters

10. The Problem - Updates
return a + b

11. The Problem - Updates
return (a + b).toFixed(2)

12. The Problem - Updates
if ( !isNaN(parseFloat(a))
|| isFinite(a)
|| !isNaN(parseFloat(b))
|| isFinite(b)
) {
throw “Not a number”;
}
return (a + b).toFixed(2)

13. The Problem - Files
index.html
stuff.js
morestuff.js
moreawesomestuff.js
super_more_awesome_stuff.js
evenMoreSuperAwesomeAtuff.js

14. The Problem - Database
Table: person
Columns: name, address, address1, city, state,
zip, phone, phone2, phone3, email, email2,
address_mailing, address1_mailing,
city_mailing, state_mailing, zip_mailing,
create_timestamp_string, …

15. The Problem - Database
Table: thing
Columns: name, description, image,
what_it_does, hours, location, cost, time,
owner, obscure_field, ts, sd, or, qa, ei, num, +
50 more columns

16. The Problem - Architecture
$sql = “SELECT * FROM big_table WHERE
something = “ $_POST[‘from_user’];
$result = mysql_query($sql);

17. The Problem - Architecture
$value = [
‘some_key’ => [
‘another_key’ => [‘maybe_key’ => ‘alice’, 1 => ‘super awesome’],
‘questionable’ => [‘bob’, ‘cat’ => ‘kittens’, ‘mixed’ => new stdClass]
];

18. Definition
● Metaphor coined by Ward Cunningham
● Explained further by Martin Fowler, others

19. Definition
● Consequences of poor design, architecture
● Prudent vs reckless
● Incurred knowingly and inadvertently
● Work needed to complete job properly

20. Sources of Technical Debt
● Time, resources, and scope creep
● Ignorance
● Misunderstanding of requirements
● Understanding of project
● Unwillingness or lack of motivation

21. Impact
● Increased time to deliver new features
● Increased time to maintain application
● Increased time paying off debts
● Increased code complexity

22. Impact
● Software brittleness
● Software bloat
● Magic in application

23. Personal Finances
● Consider similarities between personal debts
and technical debts
● Personal credit score or rating
● Balanced budget
● Expenditures
● Savings
● Education and training

24. Positive Impacts of Debt
● Education
● Housing
● Goals
● Business

25. Negative Impacts of Debt
● Loss of freedom
● Hopelessness
● Depression
● Burdensome
● Stress
● Relationships with others

26. Stay within Budget
● Avoid excessive debt
● Minimize risk
● Stay within means
● Use available resources
● Iron Triangle: Scope, Resources, Time

27. Avoid Debt - Operational
● Planning
● Requirements gathering
● Analyze project
● Documentation
● Acceptance tests

28. Avoid Debt - Technical
● Use a framework
● Be open to new technologies

29. Avoid Debt - Technical
● Unit tests
● Loosely coupled code
● Code reusability
● Reduce code complexity

30. Avoid Debt - Technical
● Code reviews and feedback
● Coding standards
● Design patterns
● General best practices

31. Avoid Debt - Technical
● Continuous integration tools
● Configuration management tools

32. Static Code Analysis
● Style
● Size
● Design
● Naming
● Duplication

33. Pay off Debt
● Make a plan
● Set goals
● Stay inside your budget

34. Pay off Debt
● Consistency
● Pay off some debt each sprint or regular
interval

35. Repeating Process
● Identify debt
● Make a plan
● Take action

36. Taking on Debt
Four Rights
● Reason
● Time
● Terms
● Amount

37. Professional Development
● Participate in local user groups
● Find experienced mentors
● Attend conferences
● Read blogs
● Learn

38. Refactor
● Sustainability of current solution
● Large effort
● Long term benefits
● Explore available technologies
● Prevent excessive new debt

39. Technical Debt
● Metaphor
● Reduce your debt
● Pay off debt using repeating process
● Tools available for your project
● Keep learning

40. References
● Ancestry.com http://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=niebergall
● Ward Cunningham https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqeJFYwnkjE
● Martin Fowler http://martinfowler.com/bliki/TechnicalDebt.html
● David Laribee https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ee819135.aspx
● Mark Noneman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb5fkftdD9k

41. Questions?
● https://joind.in/14464