A few reasons why.
There are multiple factors that affect software architecture and code clearance. But the most deadly one is… deadline. At the end, every project have a plan, and the plan must be fulfilled. There are some concessions, but not many.
When engineers are in rush, they have to find a compromise between quality and delivery time. And the compromise usually lays somewhere between unit tests and clean code. It’s very easy to make a mistake or forget about good practices when stakeholders are pushing for delivery. And in the other hand, it’s straight forward to explain why your pull request looks like that to your team mates, when you are under pressure.
Other reason could be just a human factor. Laziness, disruption… those are the feelings that always bare with us. We try to fight them with many different ways. Training, few minutes of exercises each hour, trying various focus techniques. Coffee. But it’s impossible to always win this fight. There is a moment when we give up wrecked by tight timelines, long time spent on a particular functionality. Tired, without an idea for better, we must finally show something we’ve been working on. And we open pull request with small monsters hidden somewhere behind the classes and functions, wishing that no one will notice. In most of the cases, someone will notice. But there is a chance that he’s as tired as you are. And accept.
This is the truth most of software engineers won’t tell you. But everyone of us have the same.
It’s impossible to have no technical debt.
But it’s possible to maintain it and don’t let it grow infinitely. But there is one issue. Priority backlog doesn’t include technical debt management in most of the times. Software engineers usually tries to squeeze those updates somewhere into the project tasks and improve code quality. This is something worth applause, but it’s not efficient.
Me as an engineer can constantly improve the code im working with, and this is great feeling which is growing inside of me.
There are old written rules of successful refactoring, but we still have new people coming into the industry.
Refactoring. A way of thinking.
I’ve been hearing a lot lately about the importance of refactoring, but I’m not sure where to start. It seems like everyone’s doing it, but no one has a plan to get started. The first thing that comes to mind is that there are plenty of articles on how to do refactoring, but they all seem to be focused on the basics or higher level concepts without any sort of structure.
The problem with code that is not clean, is that it is difficult to work with. It becomes complicated for developers to refactor the code, make changes or update it. Which means that this particular code will be in use for a long time, even if there are problems or issues. In this article you can find a few approaches when designing and refactoring code, so that the process of updating the code becomes much easier.
What is Refactoring?
Refactoring is a code improvement technique that developers use to make existing code more readable, maintainable, and extensible. When done well, it can result in significant improvements to the overall quality of a codebase.
There are many different types of refactoring, but they all share one common goal: to make the code easier to work with without changing its functionality. Some of the most common refactorings include:
- Renaming variables and methods for better clarity
- Extracting methods and classes for reuse and modularity
- Inlining methods or variables for performance
- Removing unused code
Refactoring can be applied to both large and small codebases, but it’s especially important for larger projects where the code is more likely to become complex and difficult to change over time. When done regularly, refactoring can help keep a codebase clean and easy to work with, even as it grows in size and complexity.
Refactoring an existing codebase
As your codebase grows, it becomes increasingly important to keep it clean and maintainable. Refactoring is a process of improving the design of existing code without changing its functionality.
There are many reasons why you might want to refactor your code. Maybe it’s hard to understand or modify because it’s not well organized. Or maybe it’s just old and needs a fresh start. Whatever the reason, refactoring can make your codebase more readable, extensible, and maintainable.
There are several techniques you can use when refactoring code. Here are a few of the most common:
Extract method: Take a section of code that performs a single task and move it into its own method. This makes the code more modular and easier to reuse.
Rename variables: Use clear and descriptive names for variables so that their purpose is immediately apparent. This makes the code more readable and easier to understand.
Extract class: Sometimes large classes can be difficult to work with. If you have a class that is doing too much, consider extracting some of its functionality into its own class. This will make the original class smaller and easier to manage.
These are just a few of the many techniques you can use when refactoring your codebase. The important thing is to take things one step at a time and not try to do too much at once. Refactoring is an ongoing process
Code smells
There are several different code smells that can indicate that a piece of code needs to be refactored. Some common code smells include:
-Duplicate code: This is when you see the same piece of code repeated multiple times throughout your codebase. This is usually an indication that you can extract the duplicate code into its own method or class.
-Long methods: Methods should generally be short and to the point. If you have a method that is several hundred lines long, it is probably doing too much and should be split up into smaller methods.
-Large classes: Similar to long methods, large classes are usually a sign that they are trying to do too much and need to be split up into smaller classes.
-Complex conditional logic: If you have complex if/else statements or nested switch statements, this is usually an indication that your code could be simplified. Try to refactor your code so that it is easier to understand and maintain.
How to start refactoring your code?
When you’re starting to refactor your code, the first thing you should do is take a step back and look at the big picture. What are your goals for the project? What is the overall structure of the code? Once you have a clear understanding of these things, you can start to identify areas that could be improved.
Next, you need to take a closer look at the actual code. Are there any sections that are particularly messy or hard to understand? These are usually good candidates for refactoring. Once you’ve identified some areas that could be improved, it’s time to start making changes.
One important thing to keep in mind when refactoring is that you should always make sure that your changes don’t break anything. It’s often a good idea to create unit tests before you start making changes, so that you can be confident that everything still works after your refactoring.
When you’re finished making your changes, take another step back and evaluate the results. Did your refactoring improve the overall structure of the code? Is it easier to understand now? If so, then congratulations! You’ve successfully completed your first round of refactoring.
Refactor to fix the design flaw
When you find a design flaw in your code, the first step is to identify the cause of the problem. Once you’ve identified the cause, you can start to think about how to fix it.
There are a few different ways to approach refactoring your code. One way is to change the structure of your code so that the problem area is isolated from the rest of the codebase. This can be done by creating new classes, methods, or modules. Another way to refactor your code is to change the algorithms or data structures you’re using. This can be a more difficult approach, but it can be necessary if the design flaw is caused by a fundamental issue with your code.
Once you’ve decided how to approach the problem, you can start making changes to your code. Be sure to test your code thoroughly after each change to make sure that you haven’t introduced any new bugs. When you’re confident that your changes have fixed the design flaw, you can commit them to your version control system and move on!
Refactoring the legacy code- Cleaning up and adding tests
When we talk about refactoring, we’re talking about making changes to our codebase that improve its overall quality without changing its external behavior. In other words, we want to make our code better without breaking anything.
There are a lot of different reasons why you might want to refactor your code. Maybe it’s too complex and hard to understand. Maybe it’s not well organized. Maybe it doesn’t adhere to the principles of good design. Or maybe it just needs a little bit of cleanup.
Whatever the reason, refactoring is a essential part of being a good software developer. It’s how we keep our codebases clean and maintainable as they grow over time.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when refactoring is that you should always start with a solid set of tests in place. This will ensure that you don’t accidentally break something while making your changes.
Once you have a good set of tests in place, you can start making your changes with confidence knowing that you can quickly fix any problems that arise.
When refactoring legacy code, there are a few extra considerations to keep in mind. First, you need to be careful not to break any existing functionality. Second, you need to be aware of any dependencies that your code has on other parts of the system. And third, you need to make sure that your tests cover.
