The Three Dimensions of Technical Debt Management
The term technical debt is thrown around a lot these days. It is fast becoming the label for any and all badness that can come out of a software project… which is quite a lot. I decided to look for an acceptable definition of technical debt and, low and behold, I did find something. I found that software engineers just love to redefine terms! There are lots of definitions out there. Having reviewed many of these (too many), I still prefer Ward Cunningham’s original definition:
Technical debt includes those internal things that you choose not to do now, but which will impede future development if left undone. This includes deferred refactoring.
Monitoring Coding Activity with Code Churn
Coordinating numerous Scrum teams working on a single codebase can be, shall we say, interesting. Although release management with agile at scale is possible, you’ll likely want to consider metrics that bring some visibility to this rapid paced environment. I contend that code churn is one such metric.
My Kanban… My Way!
In a previous post I provided a brief overview of Personal Kanban and summarized my rationale for using the approach to manage my work related activities. I also described my initial kanban implementation which consisted of a whiteboard and sticky notes. In this post I will discuss the trials and tribulations I’ve had in tailoring my kanban implementation to suit my specific needs.
Getting Organized with Personal Kanban
It seems that I’m inundated with work flowing in from all directions. This has been going on for some time now and things are starting to fall through the cracks. Being the INTJ that I am, I decided to figure out the systemic reasons for my problem and to resolve it.
Harmonizing Agile Development with the V-Model: Overview
Ask anyone who has tried to introduce agile into an established organization and they will tell you it’s tuff stuff. Wavering support from management, resistance to change and technical debt all impose seemingly insurmountable barriers. Luckily, with the right people and enough perseverance, an organization can overcome these challenges and proclaim that they are blissfully agile.
