Software Architect's Handbook

Using tools to refactor

When possible, take advantage of development tools available to you that will assist with refactoring a legacy application. Your organization may already have licenses for an integrated development environment (IDE) or other tools that can identify areas of the codebase that can be refactored. Some of them will perform some types of refactoring for you and provide you with a preview of the changes before it actually makes them. If your organization doesn't have a particular tool, it may be possible to purchase licenses for it based on your recommendations. If such purchases are not going to be possible (or simply because there are better options which happen to be free), consider using an open-source tool.