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I have been spending a large part of the past month or two battling the dragon we call technical debt. Technical debt is an often invoked but challenging to understand aspect of software engineering. To outsiders it can seem subjective: engineers dislike some sort of code, label it legacy code or tech debt, and try to convince product or management to let them work on fixing that instead of stories that provide value. This can happen, but is not fully accurate. Tech debt is real because the bill for it eventually comes due.

It has been a few weeks with the Apple Vision Pro and the hype has died down at this point. The reviews have been in and many people have tapered their enthusiasm for it after hearing about its limitations. Despite the challenges I happily kept mine. I use it nearly every day.

A common pattern I see programmers try is to write little scripts and utilities to streamline repetitive tasks. A program might arrive with a small app in “./bin/utility” you can add to your $PATH and quickly execute on things. These scripts and utilities are well meaning, but long term they tend to break. Once they do, their value proposition evaporates.

A meme that tends to ricochet through Civic Tech Circles involves criticizing volunteers or consultants for using a new programming language or library that the existing organization is unfamiliar with. In some cases the organization has a programmer or two on staff, in other cases none at all. The well meaning criticism implores people to adapt to the environment they are helping in and “meet folks where they are.” Unfortunately it ignores the needs and motives of the helpers. The trade-off organizations face is not “pick a programming language” but “accept help or do not execute on the project.”

When I first moved into my home I needed a repair to my HVAC system. My wife dutifully contacted a repair company that came to inspect it. Unable to fit in our crawl space the technician cut through our drywall to access it. He then proclaimed it fine, charged us $250, and left. I had both a hole in my wall and my wallet.