Swimming in Tech Debt

This book is for software engineers, team leads, engineering managers, and technical executives who want to:

• Identify and prioritize the debt that’s actually slowing you down today
• Use tech debt payments to increase developer productivity immediately
• Integrate small, effective debt payments into your everyday coding
• Run team-wide processes for scoring, prioritizing, and deciding on debt
• Communicate about technical debt in ways stakeholders will value
• Plan debt projects that help deliver roadmap items
• Use technical debt payoffs to speed up code reviews
• Influence CTOs to support larger initiatives
• Create a culture where paying down tech debt is part of how you work

In Swimming in Tech Debt, veteran engineer, manager, and technical executive Lou Franco defines tech debt not as something you “owe,” but as resistance—like swimming upstream. Drawing from more than 30 years of building and leading software teams, Franco offers a practical, research-backed guide to managing and paying down technical debt while working on features.Whether you’re a solo developer swimming against the current, helping your team go in the same direction, or hoping to influence an entire organization, Swimming in Tech Debt will help pay tech debt to find productivity and joy.