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Refactoring production code is risky. Your customers depend on it. One wrong move breaks the system.
Follow these steps to stay safe:
- Get high test coverage first.
- Add characterization tests if tests are missing.
- Record inputs and outputs.
- Make tiny changes.
- Keep each commit to one conceptual change.
- Small steps simplify debugging.
- Use your compiler.
- Let the type system find errors.
- Run tests after every single change.
- Fix errors before moving forward.
- Use IDE tools for renaming and extracting methods.
- Automated tools are more reliable than manual edits.
- Separate refactoring from feature work.
- Use different branches and PRs.
- This simplifies reviews.
Know when to stop. Some code works fine. Refactor only when the benefit is high.
Build better systems with these habits:
- Write one-page design docs for big changes.
- Use Architecture Decision Records (ADRs).
- Use Requests for Comments (RFCs).
- Document tribal knowledge in a wiki.
- Focus on fundamentals like memory and networking.
- Read more code than you write.
- Write code you easily delete.
Your action plan:
- This week: Read a codebase you do not usually use.
- This month: Refactor one confusing piece of code.
- This quarter: Learn a technology outside your comfort zone.