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When Do I Refactor?

When do I know it's time to refactor code?


Refactoring is different for every person but for me I follow these guidelines:
- If I don't know / understand the code, I don't refactor.  Period!
- Is the code broken?  If not then I generally don't refactor
- Can the code be made much simpler?  If the amount of code can be reduced by 2x and made cleaner / simpler then I may refactor.
- Can the existing code handle the new feature / bug fix?  If not then I may refactor.
- I will not refactor the code if I think I have a better way.  Better my be for me but not other developers.  I leave working code working.

Tests:
I never assume that tests for existing code:
-  Has complete code coverage (I've never seen this yet).  I've seen 100% coverage but not all combinations of logic or possible side effects of API changes, etc.
- That the tests are even correct.  The tests only test what the developer wanted to test, not what could / should happen.  Tests are never free from bugs just like the code that is being tested.  If there are x% of bugs for every 1,000 lines of code then the tests will also contain basically the same rate of bugs.

For these reasons, I never rely on tests for catch bugs when I refactoring code.  I need to fully understand the logic and intension of the code before I refactor.  Otherwise I'll just create additional bugs and duplicate failed logic in the new code.

For me, I try to make sure that my code is as solid, understandable and as simple as possible.  If code is not understandable then it's at rick of being churned by refactoring.

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