Software ages over time and that can corrupt the way the system is supposed to perform. If ignored it will lead to a reduction in the functioning of the software. This software decay will eventually reach a point where it becomes unusable because of bugs, poor performance and incompatibility with newer systems. Everything after all has a lifecycle and reaches an end so why should software be any different? However, an organization might want to continue with the same functionality rather than change over to a completely new system. In that case, code refactoring will be the best option.
What does code refactoring mean?
Refactoring is the process of improving the internal structure of the software system without any change in the features. From the outside there won’t be any noticeable difference, so then why refactor? Well, the answer is that after a software refactor there should be noticeable ease of usability and improved performance, especially if code refactoring has not been part of the software maintenance on a regular basis.
The reason why refactoring is often ignored till problems pile up is that development teams are always in a rush to get products or features out to market. This often means that they will cut corners. In turn, they do not find the time to make the changes and frequent code clean-up required to support code longevity. This results in what is commonly known as technical debt. It is defined as prioritizing speedy delivery over implementing perfect code. This is more common than companies would like it to be.
Telltale signs that your software needs refactoring
A system that has smelly code will prevent you from adding new functionality to it. Even more alarming is that if your codebase is out-of-date it will be prone to security breaches.
Here are the signs that your software system needs code refactoring if not a complete overhaul.
- Debugging issues is taking longer than it should: Spending an inordinately long time to resolve issues is a clear indicator that all is not well
- An excessive amount of commented-out code: This is a dead giveaway of smelly code (code not written using fundamental standards). Code that is commented out is junk in your codebase and is a potentially dangerous problem. This usually indicates problems with the specific script that nobody tried to understand and commented out. If any underlying unknown functionality is connected to this code then the problem will be compounded. Clean code will have such commented-out codes committed to source control so that there will still be a historical track of it.
- Lack of documentation and readme files: If your code is documented that means that there will be a readme file either saved as a text file or on an interactive website. Documentation will have detailed the business context around which the code is developed. If these files are nonexistent or not updated then it means coding shortcuts have been taken lack of documentation becomes a roadblock for developers new to the environment.
- Multiple developers are having issues with certain areas: If your team is constantly tripped by