System Refactoring
System refactoring is the process of restructuring existing software code without changing its external behavior, aimed at improving non-functional attributes such as readability, maintainability, performance, and scalability. It involves techniques like renaming variables, extracting methods, simplifying conditional logic, and reorganizing class hierarchies to reduce technical debt and enhance code quality. This practice is essential in agile development to keep systems adaptable and efficient over time.
Developers should learn and apply system refactoring when working on legacy codebases, during code reviews, or as part of continuous integration to prevent software rot and facilitate future enhancements. Specific use cases include preparing code for new features, fixing bugs more easily, and improving team collaboration by making code more understandable and testable, which ultimately reduces long-term maintenance costs.