Technical debt and agile software development practices and processes: An industry practitioner survey

Context: software development is typically conducted in dynamic, -scarce environments that are prone to the accumulation of debt. While this general phenomenon is acknowledged, what unknown is how technical debt specifically manifests in and software processes, and how the software development techniques accommodate or mitigate the presence of this debt. Objectives: We sought to draw on practitioner insights and experiences in order to the effects of agile method use on technical debt management, the popularity and perceived success of agile methods. We explore breadth of practitioners’ knowledge about technical debt; how debt is manifested across the software process; and the effects of common agile software development practices and on technical debt. In doing so, we address a research gap in debt knowledge and provide novel and actionable managerial . Method: We , tested and executed a multi-national survey questionnaire to our objectives, receiving 184 responses from practitioners in , Finland, and New Zealand. Results: Our findings indicate that: 1) Practitioners are aware of technical , although, there was under utilization of the concept, 2) Technical debt commonly resides in legacy systems, however, concrete instances of technical debt are hard to conceptualize which makes it problematic to , 3) Queried agile practices and processes help to reduce debt; in particular, techniques that verify and maintain the and clarity of implemented artifacts (e.g., Coding standards Refactoring) positively affect technical debt management. Conclusions: The fact that technical debt instances tend to have characteristics in means that a systematic approach to its management is feasible. , notwithstanding the positive effects of some agile practices on technical debt management, competing stakeholders’ interests remain a .