In the world of software development, you’ll often hear the phrase “technical debt.” But what does it really mean? It’s not just bugs in the code or outdated libraries. Technical debt is the sum of architectural compromises, obsolete decisions, and hastily written code that slows down product growth and drives up maintenance costs.

What is technical debt?

The term was coined by Ward Cunningham back in 1992. He compared fast development to taking out a loan: when you “borrow” time by choosing quick fixes instead of proper solutions, you’ll eventually have to pay interest. That “interest” comes in the form of slower development, more bugs, and scalability issues.

Examples of technical debt include:


• Using an outdated framework


• Duplicating logic across different modules


• Lack of tests


• “Temporary” workarounds that end up staying forever

Why companies underestimate the problem

For business, speed to market is critical. “Let’s build it now and rewrite it later” sounds reasonable — until the team starts spending twice as much time fixing bugs as adding new features.

The problem is that technical debt is invisible to users. If a new screen works, nobody outside the team realizes that behind the scenes everything is held together with duct tape.

The consequences of ignoring it

1. Slower development. Every new change takes longer.

2. More bugs. The more complex and tangled the codebase, the higher the error rate.

3. Team demotivation. Developers dislike patching old hacks and eventually burn out.

4. Financial losses. Fixing accumulated debt costs more than regular prevention.

How to manage technical debt

• Acknowledge it. Every system has debt — the only question is how much.
• Maintain a “debt register.” Track problem areas and factor them into planning.
• Allocate time for refactoring. Don’t postpone rewrites indefinitely.
• Automate. Tests, CI/CD, and static analysis help keep quality in check.
• Translate risks for business. Developers should explain technical risks in terms of financial losses.

Technical debt is like an invisible backpack that developers carry. At first it’s light, but with every sprint it gets heavier. Companies that learn to “pay interest” on time — systematically reducing debt — gain not only faster development, but also stronger, more resilient businesses.