Firefighting Approach
The Firefighting Approach is a reactive problem-solving methodology in software development and IT operations where teams address urgent, high-priority issues as they arise, often at the expense of planned work. It involves quickly diagnosing and resolving critical bugs, outages, or security vulnerabilities to restore normal operations. This approach is typically characterized by ad-hoc responses, immediate resource allocation, and temporary fixes rather than systematic, long-term solutions.
Developers should use this approach when dealing with production emergencies, such as system crashes, data breaches, or critical functionality failures that impact users or business operations. It is essential for maintaining service availability and minimizing downtime, but should be balanced with proactive practices to prevent recurring issues. Over-reliance on firefighting can lead to technical debt and burnout, so it is best applied selectively for true emergencies.