Abstract
Technical Debt (TD) is a concept borrowed from the financial domain to express extra maintenance
costs caused by short-term solutions that compromise internal quality in order to meet urgent business demands. TD can occur throughout the life cycle of software development, and it can be related
to different artifacts. Thus, different TD types exist, among which Code TD, Design TD and
Documentation TD are the most prevalent ones. To efficiently manage TD there are several activities
that can be performed, like the identification and prioritisation of TD instances, activities aiming
at TD repayment, as well as activities aiming to prevent the further accumulation of TD.
The research problem addressed in this thesis concerns the management of TD with respect to the
three aforementioned TD types (i.e., Code, Design and Documentation TD). Specifically, in terms
of Code TD it concerns the lack of high accuracy in tooling that supports the identification, prioritisation
and resolution of bad smells. In terms of Design TD, it concerns the lack of systematic support
for identifying incorrectly instantiated design patterns, as well as the lack of guidance on how
to refactor the design. In terms of Documentation TD, it concerns the lack of tools for preventing
the occurrence of insufficient, incomplete or outdated requirements documentation. The overall
solution consists of the application of software metrics, as well as refactoring and traceability techniques
to alleviate these shortcomings.
costs caused by short-term solutions that compromise internal quality in order to meet urgent business demands. TD can occur throughout the life cycle of software development, and it can be related
to different artifacts. Thus, different TD types exist, among which Code TD, Design TD and
Documentation TD are the most prevalent ones. To efficiently manage TD there are several activities
that can be performed, like the identification and prioritisation of TD instances, activities aiming
at TD repayment, as well as activities aiming to prevent the further accumulation of TD.
The research problem addressed in this thesis concerns the management of TD with respect to the
three aforementioned TD types (i.e., Code, Design and Documentation TD). Specifically, in terms
of Code TD it concerns the lack of high accuracy in tooling that supports the identification, prioritisation
and resolution of bad smells. In terms of Design TD, it concerns the lack of systematic support
for identifying incorrectly instantiated design patterns, as well as the lack of guidance on how
to refactor the design. In terms of Documentation TD, it concerns the lack of tools for preventing
the occurrence of insufficient, incomplete or outdated requirements documentation. The overall
solution consists of the application of software metrics, as well as refactoring and traceability techniques
to alleviate these shortcomings.
| Original language | English |
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| Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisors/Advisors |
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| Award date | 28-Jun-2019 |
| Place of Publication | [Groningen] |
| Publisher | |
| Print ISBNs | 978-94-034-1775-2 |
| Electronic ISBNs | 978-94-034-1774-5 |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |