Too Long; Didn't Read
Our codebases and systems tend to build up 'cruft' over time, making it harder to make changes to them or build on them later. Technical debt is a metaphor by Ward Cunningham, a co-author to the Agile Manifesto and the creator of the first wiki software. In certain aspects, it is analogous to financial debt – if we don't pay it back, it takes its toll on new features and even maintenance, just like interest accumulates on the financial debt.