Tackling Architectural Technical Debt in Software Systems: A Comprehensive Study

Architectural Technical Debt (ATD) significantly impacts software development, posing long-term challenges despite often being overlooked in the rush to deliver features. ATD refers to the compromises in software design and architecture that prioritize short-term gains but result in increased complexity, scalability issues, and higher maintenance costs over time. The study explores the symptoms, causes, and consequences of ATD, emphasizing its detection through signs like increased complexity and the difficulty of incorporating new features. Root causes include time constraints and resource limitations, which lead to suboptimal architectural decisions. Effective management strategies, such as regular code reviews, refactoring, and a focus on long-term system health, are essential to mitigate ATD's negative impacts. Tools like vFunction's architectural observability platform can aid in managing and preventing ATD by providing insights into dependencies, domain visualization, and architectural drift detection. Understanding and addressing ATD is crucial for building sustainable, efficient, and adaptable software systems, offering valuable insights for both practitioners and researchers aiming to improve software practices.