Apr 11, 2023

Refactoring IV

Previously discussed bad smells Duplicated code — and other forms of redundancy Long method — use short methods that delegate work Large class — trying to do too much Long parameter list — hard to use and remember Divergent change — changes in one class for different reasons Shotgun surgery — a change requires little changes all over Feature envy — method uses too much from some other class Data clumps — variables that frequently occur together Primitive obsession — being afraid of making “small” objects Switch statements — probably should use polymorphism

instead

More bad smells Parallel inheritance hierarchies — can’t make just one subclass Lazy class — too few responsibilities Speculative generality — code that isn’t needed Temporary field — an object doesn’t use all its variables Message chains — asking for objects to ask for objects Middle man — too much responsibility passed along Inappropriate intimacy — classes accessing each other too much Alternative classes with different interfaces — similar work but with

different signatures Incomplete library class — inadequate for reuse Data class — just data, maybe getters and setters Refused bequest — subclass don’t use much of their inheritance Comments — when used as a substitute for good code

Parallel inheritance hierarchies

When you make a subclass of one class, you have to make a corresponding subclass of another class

General strategy: Use Move Method and Move Field to make instances of one hierarchy refer to instances of the other

Lazy class

Small classes are fine, but sometimes a class just doesn’t do enough If a class is very similar to its superclass, you can try to use

Collapse Hierarchy to merge the two classes Eliminate the subclass by using Pull Up Field and Pull Up Method; or, Eliminate the superclass by using Push Down Field and Push Down

Method If a class just isn’t doing very much, move all its features into

another class with Move Field and Move Method

Speculative generality

One of the principles of Extreme Programming (XP) is that you shouldn’t write code until you need it XP assumes that code will change frequently, and tries to

make change as fast and easy as possible If you try to make things too general, you may have

unnecessary code that just gets in the way If the only users of a class or method are test cases, the

code should be thrown away Since I hate to throw away good code, I usually move unused

code to a discards directory

Temporary field

We expect an object to use all its fields It’s confusing when an instance variable is used only in

certain cases Use Extract Class to create a home for these variables Eliminate conditional code with Introduce Null Object

Sometimes programmers will add instance variables to avoid long parameter lists between communicating methods Use Extract Class to create a new method object

Message chains

A message chain is a sequence such asBazObject b =foo.getBar().getBaz() Here we are asking foo for a bar object so that we can ask it

for a baz object Often, but not always, these are getter methods Message chains can be abbreviated or eliminated by Hide

Delegate As an example of Hide Delegate, we can introduce the

following method into foo’s class: BazObject getBaz() { return bar.getBaz(); }

And then we can just call BazObject b = foo.getBaz();

Middle man

Delegation—providing methods to call methods in another class—is often useful for hiding internal details

Example:

BazObject getBaz() { return bar.getBaz(); } However, too much delegation isn’t good You can:

Use Remove Middle Man and talk to the object that really knows what is going on

Use Inline Method to absorb a few small methods into the caller Use Replace Delegation With Inheritance to turn the middle man into a

subclass of the real object

Inappropriate intimacy

Classes may make too much use of each other’s fields and methods Use Move Method and Move Field to reduce the association Try to Change Bidirectional Association to Unidirectional

The idea here is to take the class that is less dependent on the other class and remove the remaining dependencies

If the classes have common needs, try Extract Class Use Hide Delegate to let another class act as a middle man If a subclass knows too much about its superclass, use

Replace Inheritance With Delegation (see later comments on Refused Bequest)

Replace Inheritance With Delegation Sometimes a subclass inherits more from its superclass than you

want it to have Example: Suppose class Sub extends Super, inherits desired

methods int foo() and void bar(), along with other methods it does not want, and adds method int baz()

Replace class Sub extends Super {...}with class Sub { // class name should also be changed Super s = new Super(); int foo() { return s.foo(); } // delegate to s void bar() { s.bar(); } // delegate to s int baz() {...} // new method }

Alternative classes, different interfaces

You end up with two essentially equivalent classes (example: Java’s Enumeration and Iterator classes) Java can’t eliminate Enumeration because that would break

old code Even in this situation, the functionality can be moved into a

single class Use Rename Method on methods that do the same thing

but have different signatures Use Move Method until classes are doing the same

things You may want to use Extract Superclass

Incomplete library class

Library classes (such as those supplied by Sun) don’t always do everything we want them to do

It’s usually impossible to modify these library classes

Use Introduce Foreign Method: Write the method you want, as if it were in the library class Make an instance of the library class the first parameter Add a comment that describes the method as a “foreign method”

Example: private static Date nextDay(Date arg) {

// foreign method, should be in Date return new Date(arg.getYear(), arg.getMonth(), arg getDate() + 1);}

Data class

Classes that just hold data, and maybe setters and getters for that data, are undesirable

If a field is public, use Encapsulate Method to make it private and add setters and getters (if it isn’t too late)

If a method returns a collection, use Encapsulate Collection Make the method return a read-only view (java.util.Collections

supplies methods such as unmodifiableSet(Set) and unmodifiableMap(Map))

Provide add and remove methods as appropriate

Try to use Move Method to move the setters and getters to the class that needs them

Refused bequest

Subclasses may inherit unwanted methods from their superclasses This suggests that the hierarchy may be wrong

Create a new subclass and use Push Down Method and Push Down Field on the unused methods

Fowler feels that this isn’t a severe problem, unless the subclass is reusing behavior but not the interface

In a few places, Sun’s packages override an inherited method with one that just throws an UnsupportedOperationException

A better solution is to Replace Inheritance With Delegation

Comments

Fowler says “comments often are used as a deodorant” If you need a comment to explain what a block of code does,

use Extract Method If you need a comment to explain what a method does, use

Rename Method If you need to describe the required state of the system, use

Introduce Assertion

This should not discourage the use of comments (especially javadoc comments)—the point is that code should be self-explanatory, so that comments are not necessary

Advice from Kent Beck “Stopping is the strongest move in the refactorer’s repertoire.”

The idea is to take small goals, refactor in small steps, so that you can quit in a stable state, having made progress

“Somewhere your code smells bad. Resolve to get rid of the problem. Then march toward that goal.”

Stop when you are unsure If the code is already better, go ahead and release it If you aren’t sure of your changes, discard them and go back to the previous

stable state Backtrack. If the code quits working, and you haven’t tested in a

while, don’t debug—throw away the changes since the last working tests

Emotionally difficult, but rewriting is faster and easier than debugging Work with someone. There are many advantages to working in pairs.

Soundbites I

When you find you have to add a feature to a program, and the program’s code is not structured in a convenient way to add the feature, first refactor the program to make it easy to add the feature, then add the feature

Before you start refactoring, check that you have a solid suite of tests. These tests must be self-checking.

Refactoring changes the programs in small steps. If you make a mistake, it is easy to find the bug.

Soundbites II

Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.

Refactoring (noun): a change made to the internal structure of software to make it easier to understand and cheaper to modify without changing the observable behavior of the software.

Refactor (verb): to restructure software by applying a series of refactorings without changing the observable behavior of the software.

Soundbites III

Three strikes and you refactor. “The first time you do something, you just do it. The second

time you do something similar, you wince at the duplication, but you do the duplicate thing anyway. The third time you do something similar, you refactor.”

Don’t publish interfaces prematurely. Modify your code ownership policies to smooth refactoring.

When you feel the need to write a comment, first try to refactor the code so that any comment becomes superfluous.

Soundbites IV

Make sure all tests are fully automatic and that they check their own results.

A suite of tests is a powerful bug detector that decapitates the time it takes to find bugs.

Run your tests frequently. Localize tests whenever you compile—every test at least every day.

When you get a bug report, start by writing a unit test that exposes the bug.

Soundbites V

It is better to write and run incomplete tests than not to run complete tests.

Think of the boundary conditions under which things might go wrong and concentrate your tests there.

Don’t forget to test that exceptions are raised when things are expected to go wrong.

Don’t let the fear that testing can’t catch all bugs stop you from writing the tests that will catch most bugs.

Conclusions

A couple of the more important goals of Agile Programming (including XP) are to: Keep code flexible and easily changed Avoid long debugging sessions Always have something that works

Refactoring depends heavily on: Taking small steps Having a fully automated test suite that you use frequently

The End