Exploring the Relationship between Perceptions of Agile Software Development and Technical Debt

In many fast-paced software development environments, there is a push to produce working software quickly in order to meet timely deadlines and fulfill project objectives. Currently, there is host of research on the positive effects of agile development use on software development project outcomes; however, many of the long-term consequences have not been fully examined. The concept of technical debt presents an opportunity to conceptualize and study such consequences. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between perceptions of agile software development methods and the accumulation of technical debt. We use preliminary interviews to learn about how developers understand this relationship. We then use these insights to design a field study to gain further insight into the impact of software development methods on technical debt.