How Do You Know When to Refactor Code and When is the Best Time to Do it?
Difficulty in Understanding or Maintaining Code
If you or your team are having trouble understanding or maintaining the codebase, this is a sign that the code could benefit from being refactored. It can be challenging to understand complicated and convoluted code, which can result in errors and a delay in the implementation of new features. The code can be simplified through refactoring, which also helps to enhance its overall readability and maintainability by dividing it up into more manageable, smaller sections.
Adding New Features or Functionality
It is a good idea to think about refactoring if you have plans to add new features or modify current ones because this is the optimal time to do it. By doing refactoring before the addition of a new functionality, you can assure that you are constructing on a stable basis. Refactoring allows you to get rid of redundant code, make complicated logic easier to understand, and make the overall design better. This helps in keeping a clean and extensible codebase, which in turn makes it easier to implement future additions and decreases the likelihood of introducing issues.
Changing Requirements or Technologies
Refactoring is required whenever there is a shift in the requirements or if there is a migration to a different technology or framework. If the requirements change, the already-written code might not be compatible with the new goals, which would result in solutions that are less than ideal.
Refactoring enables you to modify the code so that it conforms to the newly specified criteria, which in turn makes the code more adaptable, scalable, and manageable. In a similar vein, refactoring helps guarantee that the code follows the best practices and norms of the new ecosystem, which improves its compatibility as well as its efficiency. This is an important consideration when moving to a new technology.
Code Redundancy
The necessity to refactor code usually becomes evident when the complexity of the code impedes understanding, or when adding new features seems like a monumental task. Code redundancy is another prompt. The ideal moment to refactor is during the development phase, particularly just before incorporating new functionalities. This approach helps maintain the code’s efficiency and readability.
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