A TAXONOMY OF TECH DEBT

Summary from the TLDR Web Dev newsletter

An engineering manager at Riot Games proposes a taxonomy for categorizing tech debt based on three metrics: impact, fix cost, and contagion. The impact measures the negative effects of the debt, fix cost assesses the resources needed to rectify it, and contagion quantifies its potential spread. He identifies four types of tech debt: local debt, MacGyver debt, foundational debt, and data debt, each with unique characteristics and strategies for mitigation.