Value Creation
Process automation
In applications, performance is closely tied to context. The efficient operation of part or all of a system depends, to a large extent, on its interconnections. In other words, what runs before and after a given feature influences how that feature should be built. It is this interdependence among parts or the entirety of systems that periodically requires code refactoring in applications.
Here on the Inmetrics blog, we frequently emphasize that the software industry’s paradigm is one of continuous improvement. And for good reason: the reality we face today is one of digitalization, especially in business contexts. Process automation is being applied to an ever-increasing number of workflows, while at the same time various legacy systems are undergoing application modernization processes—all happening simultaneously.
With so many applications and workflows being modified at the same time, parts of the systems tend to fail. To minimize these incidents, there is an effort to continuously monitor applications, treating quality as an ongoing service and, of course, including code refactoring as one of its key components.
In this article, we’ll break down this process, distinguishing it from other stages of application improvement, such as code rewriting and conversion. We’ll also show how code refactoring should be integrated into continuous improvement routines to ensure that application modernization processes are carried out to the highest possible standard. Stay tuned!
Code refactoring is a systematic process of improving code quality while strictly preserving the software’s functional behavior. The main objectives of refactoring are:
Unlike code conversion, which aims to reproduce the behavior and functionality of applications using a different programming language, refactoring—like rewriting—is performed within the same language, whether by improving blocks of code or rewriting them entirely.
Given the paradigm of continuous improvement, especially in scenarios where a significant amount of technical debt has accumulated, code refactoring is even more critical. As we mentioned at the beginning of this text, success is closely tied to context—to the dependencies that parts or entire applications have on one another. Especially in legacy systems that grew with little governance, the code becomes tangled, resulting in poor quality and performance, which hinders the software’s scalability.
More contemporary programming approaches, such as test-driven development, advocate that code should be created and tested simultaneously. For both TDD and the approaches derived from it, such as BDD and ATDD, code refactoring is part of the iterative cycle of continuous validation, serving, in each unit test, as the step that ensures the structural quality of the code.
This approach to application development does not “merely” yield quality benefits: it also delivers significant economic gains. A study by the Information and Software Quality Consortium showed that, in 2022, the cost of poor software quality in the United States reached $2.4 trillion, with more than half of that amount attributable to technical debt.
It is at the heart of the matter because a significant portion of code refactoring yields the practical benefit of reducing or even eliminating technical debt. And technical debt slows down the development of new features and, consequently, the releases that bring real value to business operations.
In addition to drastically reducing technical debt, code reusability increases with refactoring, especially when it is geared toward modularization. Properly refactored applications have a lower defect density. When code refactoring is practiced from the outset in the development of new digital products, both the total project investment and time to market are reduced.
Inmetrics’ Digital Acceleration and Digital Experience units are dedicated to accelerating product launches while reducing costs. To achieve this, we combine quality engineering with intelligent automation. This approach allows us to develop solutions that proactively prevent critical failures, thereby reducing the need for future code maintenance.
If you’re facing a large backlog of technical debt in legacy systems or need to make it more manageable and optimized through a comprehensive approach , click here to get in touch! Our experts will show you how code refactoring is integrated into our development methodologies and how they’ve accelerated the code cleanup of your applications!
