The power of code refactoring: how to measure the success of refactoring

​ Many engineering teams are trying to measure the effectiveness of their refactoring efforts . Let's take a look at what can help you measure the success of refactoring 5 Indicators .

Code refactoring provides developers with much-needed mental rest , I think many developers can relate to this . Writing code all day is very demanding , Especially if you create new features every day . It's a heavy job , Developers often need some space to think about the overall organization of the code base and review areas for improvement .

This is what code refactoring does . It provides developers with this much-needed mental rest , And give them the opportunity to solve higher-level code base related problems . however , This is also a good time to check your code against the code base guidelines . No code base is perfect . A small mistake that violates the rules leads to “ The main ” Branch .

most important of all , It reduces Technical debt . Developers have the opportunity to explore the code base and learn about other parts or features they have not touched . This is a nice side benefit of code refactoring .

However , Many teams are trying to measure the effectiveness of their refactoring efforts . Team leader or CTO It is often necessary to report to management . without “ hard ” Numbers , It is hard to justify the time spent refactoring the code base and developing new functions . For many startups , The pressure is always there . This constant pressure makes it difficult to justify code base refactoring .

This article focuses on different metrics that can be used to measure the success of code refactoring .

Metrics to measure the success of refactoring

You can implement several metrics to measure the success of code base refactoring . You don't need to achieve all the metrics , Because code refactoring is still a logical job . however , Specific metrics can be a good indicator of whether the refactoring is successful .

1. Number of open code base problems

As the number of open code base problems grows , This is a dangerous sign that the quality of the code base is declining . however , In addition to being a danger signal , It can also help you track the success of refactoring efforts . Your obvious goal is to start the next sprint Previously, the number of open code base problems was reduced to zero .

You hope to solve these problems as soon as possible , Because they are still relatively small problems . however , As your code base evolves over time , Small problems can become complex and time consuming . You want to avoid this , Because it will make you more backward - In terms of time and cost .

If you want to know how to track and understand problems with your code base , Please try Stepsize VSCode and JetBrains Expand . This tool will help you ：

• Connect your problem tool to the code

• Share knowledge about the time bomb in the code base within the team

• Prioritize issues and track progress

2. In the code base TODO Number

Usually , You don't want to see too much in the code base TODO. This is a sign that things need to be improved but there is no positive solution . As your code base evolves ,TODO The context of may be lost , It is difficult to understand the original problem , what's more , Difficult to solve TODO.

therefore , When refactoring is used, you can delete idle from the code base TODO or You can organize your... In a way that allows you to view the context and resolve them more quickly later TODO.

3. Number of failed unit tests

Many code bases suffer from unit test failures . As long as the percentage of failed unit tests remains relatively low , This does not threaten the quality of your code base .

however , Note the number of failed tests . This is a red flag to start code refactoring and measure the success of code refactoring . At the beginning of a new sprint Before , You want to reduce the number of failed tests to close to zero .

4. Code coverage

Code coverage metrics are closely related to measuring the number of failed unit tests . however , To measure the success of code refactoring , You also want to know how the quality of the code base can be improved . One way to measure the quality of a code base is to measure code coverage , Because it tells you how much you can trust your code base . If the test is written correctly , Higher code coverage usually leads to higher code quality .

No code base is perfect , however , Please try to approach 100% Code coverage . If you don't have the resources to completely cover your code base by testing , Make sure you cover the most critical path in the entire code . This will help you increase trust in your code .

Common pitfalls ： Don't forget to write... When refactoring code 、 Update or change tests . You don't want to improve the code , But to reduce code coverage . let me put it another way , Refactoring and code testing go hand in hand .

5. Measurement repetition

Measuring repeatability is not a high-level indicator that you should aim at . however , When refactoring code , It is still a noteworthy indicator . When the contemporary code base grows , People don't always fully understand the code base . therefore , They may not know that a help library or function already exists , And create a new library or function with the same function . The same often happens to modules in larger code bases .

First , Try to identify duplicate code and note the location to measure the success of the refactoring . You can revisit this list to measure how many lines of duplicate code were removed from the code base after code refactoring .

How to use these metrics to improve your refactoring process ？

If you consider code base refactoring , Please do not join directly without a plan . You need to set goals and boundaries for the refactoring process , To make it easier to measure success .

First , You want Collect the problems to be solved during the refactoring sprint in this code base ** All code base related issues for . If some tickets are missing , Make sure to track them or create problems . for example , View all of the... That you want to remove from the code base TODO.

Once you have identified the problem to be solved , Can Develop metrics to help track the success of refactoring . for example , You want to remove three duplicate modules and increase code coverage 15%.

Now that you have collected all the questions and set goals , It's time to share knowledge about the codebase and why specific problems need to be solved . If you don't solve the problem , You can explain the background of the problem and its impact on the project . This is also a good time to share knowledge about new parts of the code base , So all developers can keep up .

Last , Give priority to the problem you want to solve first . You won't be able to complete all the questions in the refactoring week or any timeline you set up . therefore , Before dealing with less important issues , Please make sure to solve the most influential organizational problems first .

To end the code base refactoring , please ** Collect all indicator data and validate it against the goals you set .** Now is a good time to discuss what went wrong and how to improve the code base refactoring process in the future . Don't expect everything to go well . There may be mistakes , This is good .

Conclusion ： The success and purpose of refactoring ？

No matter how you measure refactoring success , Make sure you don't use these metrics to evaluate the performance of programmers or to decide on promotions or similar things .

Refactoring code aims to solve code base and organization problems as early as possible . If not dealt with , They may escalate into more serious problems , Need more time and resources to solve .

This is also one of the main arguments for organizing code refactoring . In startups , There is always pressure to deliver new functionality . however , As a team , Sometimes you have to step back to evaluate the code and refactor it to Maintain its quality .