Refactoring for Code Quality and Flexibility
Testing does not guarantee correctness, so track down any test failures and pay attention to them. Quality suffers when domain logic is obscured because bugs can hide and stories become harder to implement. If agility is compromised, productivity suffers, and the benefits of TDD are lost.
Refactoring introduces flexibility by changing a program’s internals without modifying its external behavior. It’s not about anticipating design but about rearranging code to make it easier to change in the future. Refactor because you need to make an actual change, not a hypothetical one, and gather more insight about a problem.
Refactoring is improving code structure without altering behavior defined by tests. It’s not reserved time but a part of minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour software development. Fear of breaking the working code can hinder refactoring, but tests provide a safety net for experimentation. Big objects with many dependencies can complicate tests and increase system complexity. Aiming for classes with single responsibilities in software design is essential for flexibility.
