Why Is Refactoring Your Code Important?
It isn’t always possible to write good quality code right away. The reasons may be different – from lack of programmer knowledge to lack of time. Also, sometimes the requirements change during the execution of a task, and this also has a negative impact on the quality of the code. Therefore, software refactoring becomes an integral part of the development process. Code refactoring is very important for any project. But what does refactor mean? In this article, we will tell you about refactoring meaning and why is refactoring your code important.
So, what is code refactoring? Code refactoring is the process of changing the source code of a program that doesn’t affect its behavior and aims at making it easier to understand its work and/or to simplify its further support. Usually, refactoring of any program is making small changes to its code, each of which doesn’t change the behavior of the program itself, but somehow simplifies and/or improves the code. At the same time, it is very important that refactoring is carried out precisely and in small parts since when a programmer changes a part of the code, it is much easier to follow the correctness of the changes and not make further mistakes. If you refactor large sections of code at once, there is a very high probability of making mistakes, as a result of which the program may stop working altogether. This process is based on a series of small changes in the program code that preserve its behavior. Since each transformation is insignificant in terms of volume, it is easier for a programmer to track its correctness, and the whole sequence of these changes can lead to a significant restructuring of the program and improving its consistency, clarity, and ease of understanding of the code by other developers.
You already know about the refactor meaning, so let’s know more about its purpose. The main goal of refactoring is to make the code simpler and clearer. If after refactoring the code does not become better and more understandable, then you either didn’t refactor it properly, or it failed. That being said, don’t confuse the concept of refactoring with optimization. The code becomes faster after optimization, but not necessarily simpler and clearer; refactoring serves to simplify and improve the readability of the code.
