Technical debt manifests in myriad ways, from system failures and slower innovation, to security breaches. Technical debt has parallels with our national debt, in that it compounds over time, ballooned during the pandemic, and has reached worrisome proportions. Many software professionals are also worried that the rise of AI as an aid to software development will only make the problem worse. Recently, the EU updated its laws on defective products to include software, AI and even incorrect data—as in a navigation system. Paying down the nation’s technical debt could also get a boost from new generations of software tools.

Source: Wall Street Journal March 02, 2024 08:43 UTC