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Getting out of tech debt can feel like a Sisyphean task. After weeks of work, the success case is for the app to work the same as it used to. Organizations often declare code bankruptcy and rewrite working systems from scratch. How do we end up here? And how do we alleviate, or even better, prevent such a situation? In this workshop, you will learn how to measure tech debt and address the areas of highest need first. You’ll learn to identify high leverage code changes and separate those from renovations. You’ll also learn about the skills tech teams can use to prevent and reduce tech debt.
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In the RubyConf 2021 workshop "Tackling Technical Debt: An Analytical Approach," Chelsea Troy addresses the challenges of technical debt in software development. Troy explores the misconceptions surrounding technical debt, clarifying that it is not merely synonymous with bad code but involves maintenance load and context loss. The workshop emphasizes understanding maintenance load, which refers to the amount of developer time spent maintaining existing features rather than creating new ones.\n\nKey points discussed include:\n- **Understanding Technical Debt**: Technical debt arises from maintenance load due to context loss, which occurs when developers lose understanding of how existing code works. Troy explains that maintaining features requires ongoing effort, often overlooked in the excitement of delivering new functionalities.\n- **Identifying Maintenance Load**: Attendees participate in identifying their own experiences with maintenance load horror stories and contrasting them with smoother experiences.\n- **Code Stewardship**: This concept encompasses skills that help reduce maintenance load, such as writing discoverable code, documenting appropriately, maintaining flexibility in the right places, and ensuring context transfer among team members.\n- **Analytical Approach to Technical Debt**: Troy shares a structured method to tackle technical debt, which involves identifying code culprits and prioritizing high-leverage changes. Maintaining effective communication with product teams is essential to help decide which features to keep or remove based on their value versus their contribution to maintenance load.\n\nSignificant examples include discussions about pet refactors—individual code renovations that do not address underlying issues. Troy also engages the audience in prioritizing various technical issues through exercises, reinforcing the strategy of focusing on high-impact changes first.\n\nThe workshop concludes with practical strategies such as removing unnecessary features, addressing overlooked bugs, and facilitating open discussions about streamlining processes. Attendees are encouraged to provide feedback, indicating the workshop's intent to evolve and respond to user needs. This comprehensive approach highlights the necessity for clear practices and proactive communication in managing technical debt effectively.
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