Not all technical debt is created equal. Here's how to prioritize what to fix and what to live with.

Not all technical debt is created equal. Here's how to prioritize what to fix and what to live with.

Not All Debt Is Created Equal

Technical debt gets a bad rap, but like financial debt, it's not inherently evil. Sometimes taking on debt is the right strategic decision. The key is being intentional about it and having a plan to pay it down.

The problem comes when teams accumulate debt unconsciously, or when they know about it but never prioritize paying it down.

The Four Types of Technical Debt

Understanding what type of debt you're dealing with helps you prioritize what to fix:

1. Deliberate and Prudent

"We know this isn't the best solution, but we need to ship now and we'll refactor later."

This is strategic debt. You're making a conscious trade-off between speed and quality, with a plan to address it later.

2. Deliberate and Reckless

"We don't have time to do it right."

This is dangerous debt. You're choosing shortcuts without considering the long-term consequences.

3. Inadvertent and Prudent

"Now we know how we should have done it."

This is learning debt. You did your best with the knowledge you had, but now you know better.

4. Inadvertent and Reckless

"What is layered architecture?"

This is ignorance debt. The team lacks the knowledge to build quality software.

When to Pay Down Debt

Not all technical debt needs to be paid down immediately. Here's how to prioritize:

High Priority: Pay Down Now

  • Performance issues affecting users
  • Security vulnerabilities
  • Code that changes frequently and is hard to modify
  • Blocking future development or causing frequent bugs

Medium Priority: Plan to Address

  • Code that's hard to understand but stable
  • Missing tests for critical functionality
  • Outdated dependencies with known issues
  • Architecture that doesn't scale but isn't currently a bottleneck

Low Priority: Live With It

  • Old code that works and rarely changes
  • Cosmetic issues that don't affect functionality
  • Over-engineering from previous attempts to "do it right"
  • Technology choices that are outdated but functional

The Debt Paydown Strategy

1. Make It Visible

Track technical debt in your backlog alongside features. Estimate the cost of living with it vs. the cost of fixing it.

2. Budget for It

Allocate 15-20% of your development time to paying down debt. This isn't "extra" time—it's essential maintenance.

3. Fix It When You Touch It

The best time to refactor code is when you're already working on it. Build refactoring into your feature development process.

4. Measure the Impact

Track metrics like deployment frequency, lead time, and bug rates. Good debt paydown should improve these metrics.

Common Debt Paydown Mistakes

The Big Rewrite

"Let's stop all feature development and rewrite everything."

This rarely works. Business pressure will force you to ship before the rewrite is complete, leaving you with two systems to maintain.

The Perfect Solution

"While we're refactoring, let's also add these new features and use this new technology."

Refactoring should make the code better, not different. Save new features and technology experiments for separate projects.

The Invisible Paydown

"We spent two weeks refactoring, but there's nothing to show for it."

Make sure your debt paydown has visible business value. Faster deployments, fewer bugs, and quicker feature development are all measurable benefits.

Conclusion

Technical debt is a tool, not a failure. Use it strategically, pay it down systematically, and don't let it accumulate unconsciously.

The goal isn't to eliminate all technical debt—it's to maintain a healthy balance between speed and sustainability.