Reduce Technical Debt Fast with Automated Web Testing

What is technical debt?

Simply put, technical debt is the amount of additional work that piles up for developers as a result of shortcuts or quick fixes made during a build. All types of tech debt can be broken down into three initial categories: Intentional, unintentional, and environmental.

1. Intentional technical debt is created knowingly as a response to factors like a tight deadline or budget. It’s often done strategically as a way to release a feature quickly or to gain some present benefit at a future expense. And if not dealt with, intentional debt can compound and become problematic over time.
   
   
2. Unintentional technical debt happens unknowingly, due to errors, oversights, or skill limitations. Sometimes as the project grows beyond the original scope, developers unwittingly add bugs to the code. When poorly written code is inadvertently introduced to a build, it often goes undetected until it starts causing problems down the road. If not dealt with, it can eventually lead to major core issues for a software application.
   
   
3. Environmental technical debt can occur even when a build is initially done perfectly. This type of tech debt happens regularly as a result of a change in the external environment, like changes to an operating system or an upgrade to a new software library. If your tech stack is not tested consistently, then this type of technical debt is very likely to accrue.
   
   

These three technical debt types can be further sorted into additional types based on their specific areas of impact, including:

• Code Debt: Perhaps the most common type of technical debt, code debt is what occurs when coding shortcuts are made by the developer team, leading to the need for replacement or refactored code in the future.
  
  

• Documentation Debt: When software and coding documentation is outdated, or worse, non-existent, it leads to tech debt that often requires numerous fixes, which requires a lot of time from the developers as they attempt to figure out the code without the necessary support.
  
  

• Design Debt: Also known as Architectural Debt, this type of corner-cutting debt occurs when factors like good UX design get skipped in order to push out a product faster. Oftentimes, the architecture of the software lacks flexibility, scalability, and adaptability, making future updates or integrations difficult.
  
  
• Security Debt: When security goes unmonitored, vulnerabilities can begin to pile up, creating tech debt that may lead to severe consequences if not addressed.
  
  

These are only some of the many types of technical debt that can impact a team. Now let’s look at five common examples of technical debt that often arise in web development projects.

5 examples of tech debt in web development

When it comes to tech debt buildup, there are numerous ways that it can compound over time. Here are five examples of technical debt that can eventually cause significant problems for developers if left unaddressed for too long.

1. Outdated, Complex, or Duplicated Code

Code quality is important. By using outdated frameworks, legacy code, duplicate code blocks across files, or overly complex solutions, developers can end up with extensive maintenance issues over time. This type of debt often causes complications when it comes to debugging, updating software, and scaling web applications. Poor coding standards can also increase security vulnerabilities and lessen the agility of the development process, making it harder to adapt to new requirements or technologies.

2. Lack of Documentation

Sometimes the task of documentation gets either pushed to the side to meet a deadline or devalued as an unnecessary task. But think: if there’s only one or two developers who fully understand the codebase, what happens when they move on? The remaining developer team is left to decipher as best as they’re able, almost certainly resulting in a productivity slowdown.

When developers fail to properly document their code, they are essentially guaranteeing future work for other members of the team who must translate code and fix bugs without the help of a manual or support documentation.

3. Hardcoded Values

Hardcoded values are specific, fixed values written directly into the code, often used as a quick fix or a short-term solution. Types of hardcoded values include URLs, API keys, file paths, database credentials, and even feature configurations. Rather than getting stored in separate configuration files or environmental variables for easy adjustment, these values are designed to stay the same within the code.

Problems arise when changes need to be made. Not only are errors likely to occur because updating must be done manually, but using hardcoded values also makes it harder to scale your software or provide quality security, causing technical debt to build up quickly from this one issue.

4. Lack of Refactoring

Refactoring is the method of restructuring code in a way that updates it without changing its behavior. Code refactoring is done in order to improve its design, minimize complexities, and boost efficiency. When refactoring isn’t included as part of the build workflow, it can lead to problems like inefficient or tangled code, duplicate logic, and poor readability. Consistently skipping refactoring makes jobs like maintenance, debugging, and scaling more difficult, and technical debt increases.

5. Lack of Testing

Testing plays an essential role in the development process, as it provides a method for engineers to check their work before moving on, saving time and preventing design problems. Without incorporating unit, integration, or end-to-end testing into the build framework, it becomes difficult to know if an update has broken existing functionality, created bugs, or caused long-term issues that will appear much later. When engineers cut corners by skipping the testing process, they inevitably end up adding to their technical debt – and dealing with costly mistakes that push back release dates.

Although these five examples can wreak havoc on your tech debt load, they can also be managed easily without much manual intervention. Simply add automated web testing to your development process. 

How to reduce tech debt with automated web testing

There are many ways to effectively reduce technical debt, but one of the quickest is to build an automated web testing strategy as part of your business’s technical debt management process. By utilizing daily automation testing, developers can quickly address code issues that might have otherwise run under the radar, leading to ever-growing code debt. With automated web testing, developers can manage problems without having to resort to manual testing tasks.

Not only can businesses use automation testing to easily oversee and manage coding issues, but many automated testing tools can also assist with the documentation process. Developers can build, edit, and store reusable test scenarios, virtually eliminating the need for manual documentation of the test case. Many automation testing tools also include detailed test reports that can be helpful for properly documenting web application behavior, including access to test imaging for visual regression tracking. With a well-rounded automated testing workflow, software developers can establish a system of checks and balances that helps prevent the buildup of technical debt over time.

Which types of automated tests target technical debt?

When using automated testing for debt reduction, there are six primary test types that can assist with managing technical debt – and preventing it from happening in the future.

1. Unit Testing

Unit testing involves testing small blocks of code, like individual components or functions, to verify that everything works as intended. Adding automated unit testing into the build workflow helps guarantee that the code is clean and easy to refactor.

2. Integration Testing

Integration testing means testing how various components or modules work together to make sure that they interact correctly. With automated integration testing, software developer teams are able to quickly detect issues that crop up between interconnected parts, helping to shore up system stability and lower the likelihood of discovering bugs in the future.

3. End-to-End Testing (E2E)

End-to-end (E2E) testing means testing the flow of an application in its entirety, using simulated user interactions to determine all parts are working together correctly. E2E testing can help eliminate several causes of technical debt, including preventing UI/UX issues from design changes, catching changes to a web app’s core functionality, and quickly identifying issues in application flow.

4. Regression Testing

When changes are made to an existing functionality, regression testing ensures that those updates haven’t broken any features or led to new problems. Not only does automated regression testing make the task of refactoring easier, but it also helps prevent issues with integration, compatibility, and scalability. Without consistent maintenance, each of these factors can lead to significant tech debt.

5. Performance Testing

Performance testing involves tracking how efficient an application is while running under different conditions. This testing type assists with finding bottlenecks, scalability problems, and resource-heavy features. Because technical debt can accrue from code inefficiencies and infrastructure limitations, automated performance testing helps minimize it by quickly identifying slowdowns, overseeing load capacity, and optimizing user experience.

6. Security Testing

Security testing helps detect vulnerabilities or flaws in a software, ensuring that it can meet proper security standards. This test type quickly identifies issues that hackers might try to exploit, gaps in compliance, and any potential security breaches. With consistent monitoring through automated testing, any security weaknesses can be identified and addressed, preventing security-related technical debt from growing.

It’s important to remember that tech debt is going to happen, regardless of how thoroughly your team is testing its applications. While achieving zero technical debt isn’t necessary for success, it’s still important to keep a handle on how much of it your business accrues. These six automated testing types will help your developers to save hours of productivity time and prevent costly errors from adding to your technical debt load.

Minimize technical debt with Ghost Inspector 

If you’re looking for automation testing software that can help you manage technical debt easily, Ghost Inspector is one of the most user-friendly automated testing tools on the market. Designed for coding novices and advanced engineers alike, Ghost Inspector is packed with no-code/low-code tools for testers without coding skills, alongside more advanced features like Javascript support, data-driven testing, and integration with CI/CD tools. Users can build, run, and schedule tests using an array of simplified test management features, including:

• Web Test Recorder: Click through and record user flows in-browser that can be saved as a reusable test.
• Codeless Test Editor: Easily edit and maintain tests with our drag-and-drop test editor.
• End-to-End Testing Capabilities: Complete automated test coverage for your entire website or web app.
• Easy Test Scheduler: Run tests on your chosen schedule, whether by intervals or specific days and times.
• Cross-Browser & Responsive: Run tests on different browsers, screen sizes, and geolocations.
• Continuous Integration & API: Execute tests within CI tools such as Jenkins and CircleCI.
  
  

And more!

Interested in giving Ghost Inspector a try? Schedule or watch a pre-recorded demo here. If you’d like to check out Ghost Inspector’s many features yourself, you can also sign up for a free 14-day trial, no credit card required.