What is technical debt?

What is technical debt?

• A. Accrued shortcuts in code or architecture.
• B. An extra feature that users demand.
• C. A financial loan for startup.
• D. A legal liability.

Answer: (A)

Technical debt is when a team takes shortcuts in code or system design to ship quickly. That choice saves time now but leaves behind code that’s harder to maintain, less well tested, or more brittle. Over time, the cost shows up as more time needed to add features, fix bugs, or refactor, because the underlying structure isn’t solid. The debt must be paid back through future work—refactoring, adding tests, improving architecture—so the system stays healthy and can evolve smoothly. It’s about the cost of speed over quality, not about adding a feature, a startup loan, or a legal liability.

Technical debt is when a team takes shortcuts in code or system design to ship quickly. That choice saves time now but leaves behind code that’s harder to maintain, less well tested, or more brittle. Over time, the cost shows up as more time needed to add features, fix bugs, or refactor, because the underlying structure isn’t solid. The debt must be paid back through future work—refactoring, adding tests, improving architecture—so the system stays healthy and can evolve smoothly. It’s about the cost of speed over quality, not about adding a feature, a startup loan, or a legal liability.