# Technical debt - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Status | 8 MIN READ |
| Source | web:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_debt |
| Original | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_debt |
| Workspace | Showcase |
| Tags | web, document |

## What it says

**A 8-minute document, structured into 8 sections.**

1,949 words across 8 sections, roughly 8 minutes of reading on en.wikipedia.org.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Diagram: The document's own headings, in order, sized by how much sits under each. Longest sections are marked.**

- Origin (172 words) [neutral]
- Causes (199 words) [neutral]
- Consequences (217 words) [neutral]
- Planning (126 words) [neutral]
- Limitations (114 words) [neutral]
- See also (153 words) [neutral]
- References (534 words) [accent]
- External links (132 words) [neutral]
- Origin -> Causes
- Causes -> Consequences
- Consequences -> Planning
- Planning -> Limitations
- Limitations -> See also
- See also -> References
- References -> External links

## Key claims

**What each section of the document is about.**

Taken from the headings and the opening line beneath each. The document's own structure, not an interpretation of it.

- **Origin.** [ edit ] Ward Cunningham coined the term technical debt in 1992.
- **Causes.** [ edit ] [</span>icon<span typeof=\"mw:Entity\" id=\"mwTw\">]</span>","txt":"[icon]"}]]}'> This section needs expansion .
- **Consequences.** [ edit ] - [</span>icon<span typeof=\"mw:Entity\" id=\"mwmg\">]</span>","txt":"[icon]"}]]}'> This section needs expansion .
- **Planning.** [ edit ] - [</span>icon<span typeof=\"mw:Entity\" id=\"mwsg\">]</span>","txt":"[icon]"}]]}'> This section needs expansion .
- **Limitations.** [ edit ] The concept of technical debt presumes that an overly-expedient development effort results in additional future costs and that the costs would be avoided if different decisions were made during the effort.
- **See also.** [ edit ] - Anti-pattern – Solution to a problem that may be commonly used but is generally a bad choice - Bus factor – Concept in risk management - Code smell – Characteristic of source code that hint
- **References.** [ edit ] - 1 2 Suryanarayana, Girish (November 2014).
- **External links.** [ edit ] - Experts interviews on Technical Debt: Ward Cunningham , Philippe KRUCHTEN , Ipek OZKAYA , Jean-Louis LETOUZEY - Steve McConnell discusses technical debt - Averting a "Technical Debt" Crisis

## Receipts

**Quoted from the page, with the heading each line sits under.**

Every line below is verbatim, so the page can be checked against this brief rather than trusted over it.

- **Claim.** The section "Origin" opens on this.
  - Evidence: [ edit ] Ward Cunningham coined the term technical debt in 1992.
  - Where: en.wikipedia.org — Origin
- **Claim.** The section "Causes" opens on this.
  - Evidence: [ edit ] [</span>icon<span typeof=\"mw:Entity\" id=\"mwTw\">]</span>","txt":"[icon]"}]]}'> This section needs expansion .
  - Where: en.wikipedia.org — Causes
- **Claim.** The section "Consequences" opens on this.
  - Evidence: [ edit ] - [</span>icon<span typeof=\"mw:Entity\" id=\"mwmg\">]</span>","txt":"[icon]"}]]}'> This section needs expansion .
  - Where: en.wikipedia.org — Consequences
- **Claim.** The section "Planning" opens on this.
  - Evidence: [ edit ] - [</span>icon<span typeof=\"mw:Entity\" id=\"mwsg\">]</span>","txt":"[icon]"}]]}'> This section needs expansion .
  - Where: en.wikipedia.org — Planning
- **Claim.** The section "Limitations" opens on this.
  - Evidence: [ edit ] The concept of technical debt presumes that an overly-expedient development effort results in additional future costs and that the costs would be avoided if different decisions were made during the effort.
  - Where: en.wikipedia.org — Limitations
- **Claim.** The section "See also" opens on this.
  - Evidence: [ edit ] - Anti-pattern – Solution to a problem that may be commonly used but is generally a bad choice - Bus factor – Concept in risk management - Code smell – Characteristic of source code that hint
  - Where: en.wikipedia.org — See also

## Gaps

**What this brief did not do.**

Worth stating plainly, because a summary that hides its own limits is the thing that builds the debt rather than paying it down.

- **Nothing here was understood** (high)
  - The sections, quotes, and counts are mechanical extractions. No model read the argument, so nothing in this brief tells you whether the page is right, or even coherent.
  - Mitigation: Read the sections marked longest. They are where the reasoning usually is.

## What this brief could not check

- No language model read this page. The outline, the quotes, and the counts are mechanical, so this brief tells you how the document is arranged and nothing about whether its argument holds.