• million@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Refactoring is something that should be constantly done in a code base, for every story. As soon as people get scared about changing things the codebase is on the road to being legacy.

    • NoXzema@lemmynsfw.com
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      1 year ago

      Been with a lot of codebases that had no unit tests at all and everyone was afraid to change anything because the QA process could take weeks to months.

      The result is you have a codebase that ages like milk.

      • mark@programming.dev
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        1 year ago

        And also try to make tests that don’t have to change if you refactor in future (although there are some exceptions)

      • nous@programming.dev
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        1 year ago

        Why do you need time to refactor? It is just part of the work you need to do and should be accounted for when doing any other work. IMO a big mistake people make is thinking refactoring is some separate thing they need permission to do. You don’t, if you need to make a change in some area refactor it first to make it easier to accept your change, then add your change then refactor to clean up. This is not three separate tasks, just three steps in one task. You should be given enough time to do the whole task, not just part of it.

        • myersguy@lemmy.simpl.website
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          1 year ago

          I guess I need to refactor for readability. What you just explained is the entire point of the comment I posted. Refactoring is part of the job. Don’t give your manager a choice on whether or not it needs done.

    • hascat@programming.dev
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      1 year ago

      Yes please. Many times when I add a feature I end up refactoring some of the code first to better accommodate it.

    • russ@programming.dev
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      1 year ago

      We used to call this ‘Code is Cheap’ at my last job - you’re spot on about the value of it