Technical Spike

Noun · Development

Definitions

  1. A time-boxed investigation to answer a technical question or reduce uncertainty before committing to an implementation approach. Produces knowledge (proof of concept, benchmark, recommendation) rather than production code. Common when evaluating new technologies, assessing migration feasibility, or estimating complex work.

    In plain English: A short research sprint to figure out the best technical approach before investing in the full implementation.

    Example: "Do a 2-day spike on whether we can migrate from REST to GraphQL incrementally — we need to know before committing to the quarterly plan."

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