RefactorIT

Refactoring consists of four basic phases aimed at streamlining existing code bases to make them more maintainable and easier to evolve. Refactoring is a cycle of steps that are repeated often to keep code flexible and understandable.

Refactoring starts with research, probing and understanding of an existing source base. This is particularly true when working with team-developed code, but it also applies when a developer comes back to a module that they haven't worked on in several months. The goal is to expose the functional hierarchy of methods and program elements.

The next phase involves isolating variables, methods, and classes which need to be moved, reorganized, or transformed. The code fragments are moved and merged into their new locations. Variables, file names, and other references must be globally converted or changed to maintain code integrity. The code of both the unchanged and modified files must be massaged and made ready to compile.

Almost immediately, a unit-testing phase must be done to make sure that the code migration has not hurt functionality. Quick refactoring-testing cycles facilitate incremental improvement and risk reduction.