Calculate the technical debt ratio and remediation effort for a codebase.
Expressing debt as a ratio rather than an absolute makes it comparable across codebases of different sizes. Above about 50 per cent, remediation approaches the cost of rebuilding. The ratio is most useful as a trend: a stable ratio during active development means debt is being paid down as fast as it accrues, which is the realistic goal.
Technical Debt
Debt ratio = remediation effort ÷ estimated development cost
Debt ratio = remediation effort ÷ estimated development cost Expressing debt as a ratio rather than an absolute makes it comparable across codebases of different sizes. Above about 50 per cent, remediation approaches the cost of rebuilding.
The ratio is most useful as a trend: a stable ratio during active development means debt is being paid down as fast as it accrues, which is the realistic goal.
This calculator takes 5 inputs: Lines of code, Code smells, Average remediation time per issue, Development cost per line, Developer hourly rate. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.