Refactoring is a key process in ensuring the quality, functionality, and maintainability of source code.

While the software development process often accumulates inefficient elements and structures, code refactoring is a best practice to prevent issues related to functionality and compatibility.

In recent years, many trends have emerged aiming to simplify software development processes, including Low Code and MDA methods for creating customized software. In this context, refactoring aims to make source code more readable and clear, ensuring that software remains functional and adaptable in the long term.

What is Refactoring?

Refactoring is a process focused on improving the functionality of source code by reducing and correcting the accumulation of inefficient structures (bugs), all without adding new features to the code.

Every code refactoring process is guided by two main principles:

• Transformations are implemented to simplify and make the code easier to understand.
• These changes do not add new features or alter the observable behavior of the code.

The result is the transformation of the source code into a more stable, compatible, and readable system through iterative processes without having to rewrite the code from scratch.

Thus, refactoring is considered one of the best practices in software development, contributing to the virtuous cycle of software quality.

When is Refactoring Recommended?

• To fix errors (unnecessary or duplicate code, long parameter lists, etc.)
• In cases of “spaghetti code,” where the code is disorganized, confusing, and difficult to read, hindering its functionality. This kind of code often contains elements that complicate its structure (jump statements, loops, if statements, etc.), leading to issues known as code smells or code rot, which can degrade the code to the point that updates become nearly impossible.

Refactoring addresses these problems, improving the code and making it more efficient, allowing new elements to be integrated more easily, even by developers accessing the code for the first time.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Refactoring Code

Advantages of refactoring include:

• It creates more efficient and less redundant code.
• It facilitates code maintenance and improvements, as well as testing processes.
• It does not alter the code’s functionality.
• It allows the incorporation of additional developers.

However, it's important to recognize that refactoring isn’t always appropriate.

For instance, if functional changes are being made to the code, refactoring is not recommended. Additionally, care must be taken to avoid introducing new bugs during the process. If you have a large team, refactoring can cause delays due to the difficulty in reaching consensus on how to implement changes.

Refactoring Techniques

A successful refactoring process typically follows five phases: analysis and identification, defining the solution and technique, planning the actions with prioritized processes, implementing the refactoring, and measuring the results.

Some key techniques for refactoring include:

• Branching by abstraction: Gradual changes are applied to a system, where unwanted elements are replaced with new segments.
• Combining methods: This involves unifying methods and eliminating redundancies, while breaking down long methods into simpler segments. The goal is to allow external developers to access the internal logic of the method when joining a project. Techniques include method extraction, inlining methods, removing temporary variables, or replacing them with request methods.
• Moving properties between classes: In this refactoring technique, attributes are moved between classes using methods like moving methods, moving attributes, extracting classes, or converting classes to inline, among others.
• Moving entities between objects: Techniques here include Hide Delegate, Introduce Foreign Method, or Remove Middle Man, among others.
• Organizing data: This technique assigns classes to data, with the premise that these classes should be small and easy to understand. Unnecessary links between classes are removed. Techniques like encapsulating attribute access, replacing an attribute with an object reference, or swapping a value with a reference (and vice versa) are used.
• Red-green development: Although this is an agile software development method aimed at integrating new functionality into code, it involves constant testing to reject defective code. This results in continuous refactoring.
• Simplifying conditional formulas: This can be achieved by splitting conditions, grouping conditional formulas, or eliminating control elements, as well as replacing active conditions with guards, among other techniques.
• Simplifying method calls: Techniques include renaming methods, adding or removing parameters, replacing parameters with explicit methods, or replacing defective code with exceptions.
• Composition methods: Techniques in this category include extraction, inline methods, splitting temporary variables, or applying substitution algorithms, among others.
• Simplifying conditional expressions: Useful techniques here include consolidating conditional expressions or duplicated conditional fragments, though there are many other options.
• Dealing with generalization: Techniques like extracting subclasses, collapsing hierarchies, or extracting interfaces are used in this category.

Tools and Beyond: Refactoring in the Age of Simplification

Refactoring is part of a larger trend in software development that aims to simplify all stages of programming. The goal is to generate high-quality customized software with greater efficiency and reduced development times.

Tools like icaria Lean Factory, an MDA platform for designing and creating business software without coding, are leading the way in this effort. This simplification initiative reduces costs and speeds up implementation and maintenance by generating code from abstractions.

Discover how icaria Technology is helping businesses create more intuitive and simplified yet highly customized code. Get in touch with us and talk to our team today!