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The eternal struggle: Backward compatibility vs. technical debt | Alain Schlesser
Software engineers face the eternal struggle between backward compatibility and technical debt, a constant balancing act that requires deliberate planning and best practices to avoid code complexity and maintainability issues.
- Technical debt is the cost of deferring maintenance and repairs.
- It’s like borrowing from the future to solve a problem now, but it needs to be paid back later.
- Backward compatibility and technical debt are two opposing forces in software engineering.
- Backward compatibility keeps the software working with older versions, but it creates technical debt.
- Forward compatibility is the key to avoiding technical debt and breaking changes.
- Rebuilding software from scratch can be a good strategy, but it’s not always possible.
- Best practices can help you code more maintainable and flexible code, but they’re not enough to eliminate technical debt.
- Deliberate technical debt is created when you plan ahead and know you’ll need to refactor later.
- Inadvertent technical debt is created when you don’t know better and code faster but less maintainable code.
- Technical bankruptcy is when a software system becomes so complex and inflexible that it can’t adapt to changes.
- Code needs to be flexible and adaptable to the changing environment.
- Interfaces can be kept strict or loose, but a balance needs to be found between the two.
- Technical debt needs to be repaid, but it’s difficult to estimate when and how.
- Code complexity increases exponentially as technical debt accumulates.
- Semantic versioning helps control breaking changes and manage technical debt.
- WordPress, as a PHP project, has accumulation of technical debt over 15 years.
- Rebuilding WordPress from scratch is not an option, but the project needs to balance backward and forward compatibility.
- Software engineering is all about balancing competing forces, and backward and forward compatibility are two of them.
- Technical debt can be managed, but it’s a constant struggle, especially in rapidly changing environments.
- Best practices and experience are essential for managing technical debt.
- The key is to find a balance between backward and forward compatibility, and to plan ahead for future changes.