Managing software debt : building for inevitable change

The chapters in this book cover managing software debt, technical debt, sustaining internal quality, quality debt, design debt, technology evaluation styles, and much more.

Author Notes

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.

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

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