Chapter 8 T ECHNICAL D EBT In this chapter I discuss the concept of technical debt. I begin by defining technical debt, which encompasses naive debt, unavoidable debt, and deliberate debt. Next I examine some common causes of technical debt and the consequences of accruing high levels of debt. I then describe three activities associated with technical debt: manag- ing the accrual of technical debt, making technical debt visible, and servicing technical debt. I specifically emphasize how to apply these activities when using Scrum. Overview Ward Cunningham was the first to write about the concept of technical debt (Cun- ningham 1992). He defined it as follows: Shipping first time code is like going into debt. A little debt speeds develop- ment so long as it is paid back promptly with a rewrite. . . . The danger occurs when the debt is not repaid. Every minute spent on not-quite-right code counts