Refactoring: Improving the design of existing code: Improving the design of existing code

Author: Fowler
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: After object technology has become commonplace—especially in the Java programming language—new issues have emerged in the software development community. Inexperienced developers have completed numerous clumsy designs, resulting in programs that are not only inefficient but also difficult to maintain and extend. Gradually, software system experts have discovered how challenging it is to coexist with these inherited, low-quality programs. Object experts have been using various techniques to improve the structural perfection and performance of existing programs for years. Martin Fowler and the other authors of this book clearly reveal the process of refactoring, and their contributions to object-oriented software development are immeasurable. This book explains the principles and best practices of refactoring, and points out when and where you should start digging into your code to improve it. The core of this book is a comprehensive catalog of refactoring, which introduces the motivation and techniques of an empirically proven code transformation for each item. Some items, such as ExtractMethod and MoveField, may seem simple at first glance, but don’t be complacent, because understanding these techniques is the key to refactoring in an orderly manner. The refactoring guidelines presented in this book will help you modify your code one small step at a time, reducing the risks involved in the process. Soon, you will incorporate these refactoring guidelines and their names into your own development lexicon and recite them effortlessly.