Old habits die hard: Why refactoring for understandability does not give immediate benefits

Erik Ammerlaan*, Wim Veninga, Andy Zaidman

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volumeConference contributionScientificpeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)
77 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Depending on the context, the benefits of clean code with respect to understandability might be less obvious in the short term than is often claimed. In this study we evaluate whether a software system with legacy code in an industrial environment benefits from a 'clean code' refactoring in terms of developer productivity. We observed both increases as well as decreases in understandability, showing that immediate increases in understandability are not always obvious. Our study suggests that refactoring code could result in a productivity penalty in the short term if the coding style becomes different from the style developers have grown attached to.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2015 IEEE 22nd International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution, and Reengineering, SANER 2015 - Proceedings
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Pages504-507
Number of pages4
ISBN (Electronic)9781479984695
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2015
Event22nd IEEE International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution, and Reengineering, SANER 2015 - Montreal, Canada
Duration: 2 Mar 20156 Mar 2015

Conference

Conference22nd IEEE International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution, and Reengineering, SANER 2015
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityMontreal
Period2/03/156/03/15

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