CSC/ECE 517 Fall 2009/wiki 1a 7a HJ

Definition of code refactoring

According to Wikipedia: "Code refactoring is the process of changing a program's internal structure without modifying its external functional behavior or existing functionality with the goals of readability, maintainability, performance, extensibility and simplicity."

Goals of refactoring

Refactoring is motivated by the difficulty of adding new functionality to a program or fixing a bug in it. As we said before, after code refactoring, the program does the the exact same thing it did before.

Refactoring is very useful to improve a program because a software can not be perfect when it is first developed.

Refactoring is one of the most useful tool for software engineer because they can write a rough design which work at first and then refactor the code when they conceive a better design.

The differences are that the new code:

1. is easier to read and so to understand
2. contains less duplication
3. is less complex
4. is more flexible towards future changes
5. could lead to a faster compilation time

Common Refactorings Tools

Here is a list of some examples of refactoring techniques used. For further information, the reader please refer to Lecture 3 of CSC 517 of Dr. Gehringer [1] inspired of the site [2] and to the section 2.1.2 of the thesis of Thomas Corbat [3].

1. Rename
   • Methods
   • Fields
   • Packages
   • Projects
   • Parameters
   • Local Variables
2. Encapsulate Field
3. Move
   • Method
   • Field
4. Pull up
   • Field
   • Method
5. Push down
   • Field
   • Method
6. Extract
   • Method
   • Class
   • Constant
   • Local Variables
7. Convert Local Variables to Field
8. Change Method Signature

Examples of Refactoring

Examples of Refactoring for JAVA

JAVA has a lot of tools for refactoring. Here are some examples of Refactoring for JAVA :

Rename

First code

public class rename_Method {

   static void WrongRenameMethod() {
       System.out.println("NC State");
   }

}

Refactor by renaming

public class rename_Method {

   static void ncsu(){
       System.out.println("NC State");
   }

}

Examples of refactoring for Ruby

Ruby is still a newbie in refactoring . Here are some refactoring tools :

Rename

def FirstMethod

    puts("NC State");

end

Refactor by renaming

def NCSU

    puts("NC State");

end

Current IDE and Refactoring

Current Java IDE and Refactoring

Most of Java IDE support refactoring like Eclipse or IntelliJ IDEA.
Eclipse or IntelliJ IDEA which are some of the most used JAVA IDE, have a lot of refactoring tools already : one clik and you refactor your code.

Current Ruby IDE and Refactoring

The following Current Ruby IDE do not support refactoring :

• Ruby in Steel
• Arachno Ruby
• FreeRIDE
• Mondrian Ruby IDE

The only current Ruby IDE with refactoring support are:

• RubyMine
• Eclipse with Aptana

Ruby and JAVA Refactoring Tools : a small comparaison

Comparaison of Refactoring Tools

JAVA Refactoring tools	Ruby Refactoring tools
Rename	Rename
Move	Move
Extract Class	Convert Local Variable or Field
Extract Super Class	Extract Constant
Extract Local Variable	Pull Up
Extract Constant	Pull Down
Extract Interface	Encapsulate Field
Use Supertype
Encapsulate Field
Pull Up
Pull Down
Introduce Parameter
Introduce Parameter Object

Conclusion

The differences between the two languages JAVA and Ruby is the number of methods available for refactoring and the number of IDE which support refactoring in the two languages.

JAVA has two times more options for refactoring and all of JAVA IDE support refactoring.

Ruby is like a children which is learning and improving his knowledge by trying to be inspired by what the other already have.

However, refactoring tools for both JAVA and Ruby are integrated into some IDE like Eclipse.

References

[1] http://courses.ncsu.edu/csc517/common/lectures/notes/lec3-f09.pdf

   Refactoring and version control, CSC517, NCSU, Dr. Ed Gehringer

[2] http://www.refactoring.com

[3] Summary : http://subs.emis.de/LNI/Proceedings/Proceedings106/gi-proc-106-039.pdf

   Complete Thesis:  http://r2.ifs.hsr.ch/rubyrefactoring.pdf
   Refactoring Support for the Eclipse Ruby Development Tools
   HSR, University of Applied Science Rapperswil  
   Diploma Thesis of Thomas Corbat, Lukas Felber and Mirko Stocker

[4] http://refactormycode.com/codes/recent/ruby

   Forum for help on refactoring in Ruby

[5] http://refactormycode.com/codes/recent/java

   Forum for help on refactoring in Java

[6] http://www.slideshare.net/jweiss/refactoring-ruby-on-rails-applications