Managing Software Debt

Foreword xv Introduction xxi Acknowledgments xxxi About the Author xxxiii Chapter 1: Managing Software Debt 1 Where Does Software Debt Come From? 1 Software Debt Creeps In 3 Software Asset Depreciation 5 Business Expectations Do Not Lessen as Software Ages 12 Summary 14 Chapter 2: Technical Debt 15 Origins of Terminology 16 Patterns of Technical Debt 19 Acknowledging Technical Debt 22 Summary 30 Chapter 3: Sustaining Internal Quality 31 Discipline in Approach 31 Summary 52 Chapter 4: Executable Design 55 Principles of Executable Design 55 Executable Design in Practice 59 Summary 79 Chapter 5: Quality Debt 81 Quality as an Afterthought 81 Indicators of Quality Debt 85 Test Automation 93 Summary 104 Chapter 6: Configuration Management Debt 107 Overview of Configuration Management 108 Responsibilities for Configuration Management 109 Release Management 115 Branching Strategies 123 Documenting Software 126 Summary 128 Chapter 7: Design Debt 131 Robustness 131 The Cost of Not Addressing 135 Changeability 138 Review Sessions 146 Summary 150 Chapter 8: Designing Software 153 Application Design 153 Team Tools for Effective Design 163 Summary 171 Chapter 9: Communicating Architectures 173 The Three Levels of Architecture Perspective 173 Architecture Is S.A.I.D. 178 Modeling 186 Summary 188 Chapter 10: Technology Evaluation Styles 191 The Need for Technology Evaluation 191 When to Conduct Technology Evaluations 196 Summary 198 Chapter 11: Platform Experience Debt 199 Defining Platform Experience 199 Sharing Knowledge 203 Collaborative Team Configurations 206 Importance of Relevant Experience 217 Summary 219 Appendix: What Is Agile? 221 Index 229

Chris Sterling, Partner at Sterling Barton, LLC, works with widely diverse clients as a technology, management, and Agile consultant. A Certified Scrum Trainer and Innovation Games Facilitator, he has created-and continues contributing to-multiple open source projects. He has been a speaker at many conferences and events, including Agile conferences, Better Software, SD West, Scrum Gatherings, and PNSQC. He teaches the Advanced Topics in Agile Software Development course for the University of Washington's Agile Developer Certificate extension program.