Technical Debt Analyzer

Technical debt is a cost metaphor: structure you'd build differently today, paid for in slower future changes. The analysis question is not "where is the bad code?" — it's "where does the bad code cost the most?"

The cost equation

debt_cost(file) = interest_rate(file) × principal(file)

• Principal = how much work to fix the structure. Size of the refactor.
• Interest rate = how often you pay. Change frequency.

A terrible file nobody touches has high principal, zero interest → zero cost. Pay down debt where the product is high.

Signals — gathering the data