Refactor or die

Mikhail Matrosov
Technical Manager at Align Technology
mmatrosov@aligntech.com
Refactor or die - Mikhail Matrosov - CppCon 2017 2
Refactor or die - Mikhail Matrosov - CppCon 2017 3
Impact=Risk=P(bug)=P(💀)

Business process

User

Application Functional change:

unlimited impact
Library
Refactoring:
Class
limited impact
Function

Refactor or die - Mikhail Matrosov - CppCon 2017 4

 Functional change
P(💀)/LOC P(💀)/LOC Refactoring

💀
LOC touched LOC touched
Refactor or die - Mikhail Matrosov - CppCon 2017 5
 Tests?
• Tests failed. What did we do wrong, exactly?
• Never 100% coverage
• Cannot test tests
• Cannot test users
• Easier to check that nothing changed than to check that a change is correct

Refactor or die - Mikhail Matrosov - CppCon 2017 6

• To fix a bug:
1. Refactor current code so that the bug is obvious and easy to fix
2. Fix the bug smoothly, with as little changes as possible
• To implement a feature:
1. Refactor current architecture so that the feature now fits into it
2. Implement the feature smoothly, with as little changes as possible
• Don’t forget to make separate commits

Refactor or die - Mikhail Matrosov - CppCon 2017 7

Kind of change

Modification
Bug fix
New feature
Refactoring
Trivial change

Refactor or die - Mikhail Matrosov - CppCon 2017 8

Kind of change Impact

Modification
Bug fix Unlimited
New feature
Refactoring
Limited
Trivial change

Refactor or die - Mikhail Matrosov - CppCon 2017 9

Kind of change Impact Mark

Modification (*)
Bug fix Unlimited (–)
New feature (+)
Refactoring (~)
Limited
Trivial change (=)

Refactor or die - Mikhail Matrosov - CppCon 2017 10

Kind of change Impact Mark Affected SemVer
version
Modification (*)
Major
Bug fix Unlimited (–)
New feature (+) Minor
Refactoring (~)
Limited Patch
Trivial change (=)

Refactor or die - Mikhail Matrosov - CppCon 2017 11

Kind of change Impact Mark Affected SemVer Reviewer
version attention
Modification (*)
Major High
Bug fix Unlimited (–)
New feature (+) Minor Moderate
Refactoring (~) Low
Limited Patch
Trivial change (=) None

Refactor or die - Mikhail Matrosov - CppCon 2017 12

Refactoring in progress…
Refactor or die - Mikhail Matrosov - CppCon 2017 13