Enhancing Code Design and Flexibility

Refactoring is the process of improving the design and structure of existing code.

Ensuring that the code remains maintainable and flexible over time is essential. Refactoring helps to avoid coupling objects, which can lead to the need for a complete rewrite in the future. To protect the code from unexpected changes, dependencies must be injected, and data should be hidden from oneself.

Refactoring makes code more flexible by ensuring each method has only one responsibility.

Small methods help improve the design by making it easier to rearrange behavior. Even if the ultimate design is unclear, refactoring your code can help clarify it and make it more transparent.

Refactoring is not just a good practice; it is a necessity.

Refactoring is not just a good practice; it is a necessity. It makes code more usable by ensuring it can be reused in different contexts.

The code should encourage those who change it to perpetuate good practices and maintain its qualities. Sound practices are good until we discover better ones to replace them. Experimenting becomes very costly when the software is not modular and testable. Thus, it is important to perform refactorings even if you are still determining the ultimate design. This is because good practices can help reveal the design, especially when it is not straightforward.

Refactoring is essential for maintaining object-oriented software.