Meaning – The term back burner means to move a task down the priority list, in the hope that the task gets dissolved or gets completed by someone else.
Usually, when a developer is working on a release, he/she is also confronted by other tasks that may seem menial or a hindrance to the work flow. In such cases, the developer simply puts the less important tasks on the back burner in order to focus on the more critical or time bound tasks.
The result of this is that the developer revisits these tasks once the main job is done, the back burner tasks are ultimately dissolved, or are re-assigned to someone else for completion.
It must be kept in mind that tasks on the back burner for one person, may turn out to be a mission critical task for someone else. It is completely subjective and must not be taken for granted.
Example of usage – “As the release date came closer, the developer put all other tasks on the back burner, to focus on the task at hand.”
