Backlog is the sad, lonely place where user stories go to die. It's a graveyard of once bright ideas, now destined to be forgotten and never developed because the product manager keeps chasing shiny new features.

How to use it in a sentence

• In the sprint planning meeting, the scrum master glared at the poor developers and said "Alright, let's see what sorry stories from the backlog we're going to have to try to resurrect this time."

• The new CTO took one look at the towering backlog of incomplete work and muttered "Well, I guess this is what happens when you spend all your funding on foosball tables and beanbag chairs instead of hiring engineers."

If you actually want to learn more...

• Lean Inception by Paulo Caroli provides an overview of how to effectively kick off projects and define the MVP to avoid backlog bloat. It's like a crash diet for your backlog.

• Continuous Flow by Martin Fowler explains how to break down features into user stories that can flow through development continuously, instead of languishing unloved in the backlog.

• The Manage Technical Quality guide on StaffEng discusses how investing in a dedicated team focused on technical quality can help burn down technical debt backlogs and make development more productive overall. But good luck getting headcount for that.

Note: the Developer Dictionary is in Beta. Please direct feedback to skye@statsig.com.