Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code

Chapter 14. Refactoring Tools

by Don Roberts and John Brant

One of the largest barriers to refactoring code has been the woeful lack of tool support for it. Languages in which refactoring is part of the culture, such as Smalltalk, usually have powerful environments that support many of the features necessary to refactor code. Even there, the process has been only partially supported until recently, and most of the work is still being done by hand.

Refactoring with a Tool

Refactoring with automated tool support feels different from manual refactoring. Even with the safety net of a test suite in place, refactoring by hand is time consuming. This simple fact prevents programmers from making refactorings they know they should, simply because refactoring ...