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Technical Debt9 min read

The 4 Types of Technical Debt (And Why They Compound Differently)

Code debt, architecture debt, infrastructure debt, and process debt each have different interest rates.

By Richard Ewing·

Not All Debt Is Equal

Code Debt compounds slowly — messy code slows development incrementally. Architecture Debt compounds fast — wrong patterns multiply across the system. Infrastructure Debt can be catastrophic — outdated infrastructure fails suddenly. Process Debt is invisible — bad processes accumulate friction silently.

Each type requires different remediation strategies and has different ROI timelines. Code debt: 3-6 month payback. Architecture debt: 6-18 months. Infrastructure debt: immediate to 3 months. Process debt: 1-3 months.

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Published Work

This article expands on ideas from my published work in CIO.com, Built In, Mind the Product, and HackerNoon. View published articles →

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Richard Ewing

The Product Economist — Quantifying engineering economics for technology leaders, PE firms, and boards.

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