Two's Complement Technical Debts
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Jan 15, 2024 The podcast discusses the concept of technical debt and its original definition. It dives into different categories of technical debt such as risk, capability, and complexity. The hosts compare two solutions to the same problem and highlight the importance of simplicity in complex systems. They also discuss managing flexibility, eliminating unnecessary code, and redefining technical debt and code-related issues.
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Original Meaning of Technical Debt
- Technical debt, as originally defined by Ward Cunningham, describes the cost of redesigning software as understanding of the problem evolves.
- It's not about writing bad code intentionally but adapting to new knowledge.
The Timestamp Bug
- Matt Godbolt shares a story about a timestamp bug that caused a process to fill data gaps until disk space ran out.
- This exemplifies how ignoring seemingly small issues (incorrectly labeled technical debt) can have major consequences.
A Better Model for Software Issues
- Instead of using the vague term "technical debt", Ben Rady suggests categorizing software issues as risks, capabilities, or complexity.
- This allows for more precise discussions and better trade-off analysis.