Pattern 13: Tech-Debt Elimination

Pay It Back Without Slowing Delivery

Overview

Tech-debt elimination is a campaign where you hunt down code that bleeds time, remove it safely, and ship features while quality climbs.

Payoffs compound:

  • Daily friction disappears
  • Future changes cost less
  • Defect rates drop
  • Morale skyrockets

For codebases over two years old, this pattern is oxygen.

Key Principles

  1. Measure pain – Count hours, bugs, rollbacks
  2. Fix worst first – Ignore the rest for now
  3. Merge fast – Within the week
  4. Add tests – Lock the door behind you

Exercise: Clean the Core

Your app runs but it limps. Have AI scan for code smells, complexity, thin wrappers, and duplicate code, then generate a ranked list in TECH_DEBT.md.

Ship your refactors in tiny, passing commits.

Your Turn

Pick production code to improve:

  • Feed your longest file to AI and split it into single-responsibility modules
  • Refactor seven-parameter functions into options objects
  • Target your highest complexity scores and reduce them with AI’s help

Ship the changes, measure the impact, then move on.