Manifesto from Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshop 24452 -- Reframing Technical Debt

TL;DR

This paper presents a manifesto that redefines technical debt through core values and principles, critiques current management practices, and proposes a research roadmap to improve understanding and handling of technical debt.

Contribution

It introduces a new reframing of technical debt emphasizing values and principles, and outlines a comprehensive research and practice roadmap.

Findings

Current technical debt management practices are inadequate.

A new framework based on values and principles is proposed.

A roadmap with milestones for future research and practice is outlined.

Abstract

This is the Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshop 24452 manifesto on Reframing Technical Debt. The manifesto begins with a one-page summary of Values, Beliefs, and Principles. It then elaborates on each Value, Belief, and Principle to explain their rationale and clarify their meaning. Subsequently, the paper describes the current landscape of Technical Debt Management methods and tools and explains why the current practice is inadequate and where current research falls short. The current landscape is organized into five major topics: Technical Debt as Value-Creation, Tooling, Data Collection, the role of Architecture, and Socio-Technical Aspects. Finally, the paper outlines a roadmap to realize the stated principles, with concrete milestones to be addressed by researchers, software practitioners, and tool vendors. The manifesto is signed by the workshop participants.