Effectiveness of Early Quality Attribute Evaluation Methodologies in Mitigating Technical Debt
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55204/trc.v6i2.e757Keywords:
Architectural Technical Debt, PRISMA Methodology, Quality Attributes, ATAM, Software SustainabilityAbstract
Architectural Technical Debt (ATD) has become a major threat to the sustainability of complex systems, leading to a steady decline in software maintainability, scalability, and reliability. This study presents a systematic review based on the PRISMA 2020 statement, examining 30 high-impact papers from 2021 to 2026. The evidence suggests that using methodologies like ATAM and ARID during the design stage is key to spotting structural trade-offs. Such early intervention can lower refactoring costs by as much as 30% and stop technical debt from spiraling out of control. The paper recommends building architectural health dashboards directly into agile pipelines. Future research should look into standardizing ATD metrics for microservices and cyber-physical systems, while also assessing how generative AI might be introducing latent debt. Ultimately, early evaluation of quality attributes remains the most cost-effective way to stop structural decay. By merging qualitative analysis with predictive AI, teams can ensure long-term technical sustainability and align their architecture with core business goals.Downloads
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