Technical Debt
The implied cost of future rework caused by choosing quick solutions over better approaches.
Also known as: Tech debt, Code debt
Category: Concepts
Tags: software, principles, debt
Explanation
Technical Debt is a metaphor describing the accumulated cost of shortcuts, quick fixes, and suboptimal solutions in software development. Like financial debt, it accrues interest - making future changes increasingly difficult and risky. Some debt is strategic (ship now, fix later), but unmanaged debt compounds until systems become unmaintainable. The concept applies to PKM: quick-and-dirty notes, inconsistent naming, and fragmented systems create 'knowledge debt' that slows future thinking.
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