A Taxonomy of Tech Debt

Bill 'LtRandolph' Clark, an engineering manager at Riot Games, explains the concept of tech debt and provides a framework to measure it using three axes: impact, fix cost, and contagion. He categorizes tech debt into four types: local debt, MacGyver debt, foundational debt, and data debt. Each type is illustrated with examples from League of Legends and strategies for dealing with them. Contagion is highlighted as a crucial metric for understanding how tech debt can spread and complicate fixes over time.