Refactoring

It is strongly advised that there are no ‘refactoring stories’. Refactoring is a normal part of the software engineer’s job and should not be treated in anyway as a separate or ‘controllable’ activity.

The primary concepts for refactoring are

• Always be clear whether you are refactoring or adding functionality.
• Surgical Refactoring
• Large Refactorings are avoided and dealt with by ‘setting a refactoring goal’ and communicating that with the rest of the team
• The ‘boy scout rule’ is used to ensure that each time the code is ‘touched’ by a developer it is improved
• Commit often and don’t be afraid of rolling back