Fantastic book and one that should be in every developers personal library. The depth of knowledge and technical precision the author has in regards to refactoring is immense. This book is not a quick read but should be read in its entirety to really take in all that refactoring has to offer. Refactoring has now become part of my everyday programming and development process.
There is only one thing I would change about the book and that is for the author to add the completed refactored code for some of the more complex methodologies to the end of each refactoring. Some of the refactoring methodologies can be quite extensive and by adding the completed refactored code to the end may help give a clearer picture of the information the author is imparting to the reader. Other than that this book has taught me so much about refactoring and will be a go to book for the rest of my software development career.
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From the Publisher
Refactoring is...
a disciplined way to clean up code that minimizes the chances of introducing bugs. Although it is focused on the code, refactoring has a large impact on the design of systems. It is vital for senior designers and architects, as well as professional programmers, to understand the principles of refactoring and to use them in their projects.
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Customers say
Customers find the book helpful as a reference for identifying refactoring opportunities and appreciate its comprehensive review of refactoring techniques. Moreover, the content is unusually clear and easy to understand, with one customer noting it's simple enough not to distract from the core concepts. Additionally, they consider it crucial for high-quality code. However, the book receives mixed feedback regarding its verbosity, with some finding it concise while others consider it verbose, and several customers find it overpriced.
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18 customers mention information quality, 18 positive, 0 negative
...The depth of knowledge and technical precision the author has in regards to refactoring is immense....Read more
Easy to read, with great information. I have applied what I found inside on my projects immediately.Read more
I really liked the book, very explanatory.Read more
This book was ordered for our developer's team and it is very helpful for them. Thank youRead more
8 customers mention refactoring, 7 positive, 1 negative
...There's a strong mix of classic refactorings from the original book, too, updated and broadened to apply to any programming language....Read more
The catalogue of refactoring is interesting. The way Martin (and also Kent Beck according to Martin) approach coding is fascinating....Read more
...knowledge and technical precision the author has in regards to refactoring is immense....Read more
Contains a comprehensive list of refactoring techniquesRead more
4 customers mention readability, 3 positive, 1 negative
This book is a quick read but is unusually clear and practical....Read more
Easy to read, with great information. I have applied what I found inside on my projects immediately.Read more
The font the code is printed in is very condensed and hard to read....Read more
Clear, concise, very informative, and easy to understand....Read more
3 customers mention ease of understanding, 3 positive, 0 negative
Best book related to this topic, examples are easy to understand. Book arrived in perfect conditions to Bolivia.Read more
...The examples are real-life but simple enough to not distract from the core - how to simplify the "first version" of code....Read more
Clear, concise, very informative, and easy to understand....Read more
3 customers mention software developer, 3 positive, 0 negative
One of the best software developer books, If you have the challenge of redesign a software application this is the book you need to read but before...Read more
...unfamiliar topic for many developers but it's absolutely crucial for high-quality code....Read more
Great insight in the mind of a great programmer...Read more
3 customers mention value for money, 1 positive, 2 negative
3 customers mention verbosity, 1 positive, 2 negative
I agree with some reviewers here -- this book is verbose. Martin Fowler tends to write comma-separated sentence across a few lines....Read more
Very well written. Concise and the author gets right to the experience of refactoring through an example....Read more
...First of all, this book is really verbose....Read more
Wonderful--see attached photos; no missing pages for me
This book arrived in perfect condition. After reading another review, I checked over my book for missing pages. There were none. It is a Christmas gift for my husband. I can't comment on the contents of this book, so I posted some photos to let you see for yourself. Hope they help!
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- Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2023Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Code is written by humans, executed by machines. Live code is also read by (other) humans for about 10x more than the time it took to write it. This is where "refactoring" comes to play. It is sort of making continuous improvement to code so it is more readable. It is cleaning up cobwebs from the corners.
If you have the right 'why', you can bear almost any 'how'
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2023
One of the most popular CS papers ever ("Hints for Computer System Design", 1983) suggests 3-step process about writing code - first, make it work; second, make it right; finally, make it fast". This book, a succinct second edition of a very popular first, is an excellent "show and tell" for the second part.
It has a catalog of "code smells" and an inventory of "refactoring tricks" mapped to each. The first edition had working Java examples. The present one shows JavaScript ones. The examples are real-life but simple enough to not distract from the core - how to simplify the "first version" of code. Apart from the content, the insights that pops out can only be gleaned from years of deep experience. One example, say, most developers encode a "phone number" attribute as string in the first attempt of modeling. Soon enough, one needs to add "spam rules", "blocking number", "area code" etc. That necessitates phone number to be 'refactored' from string (i.e., a primitive type) to its own object model (say, a class called PhoneNumber). The author cheekily refers to the former type of behavior as "stringly typed" variables. Word play is a hallmark of many good engineers I'd worked with, but it is also a phenomenal way to remember things. Humor shortens the retrieval curve.
What I liked most about the book is a broad adoption of "Paracelsus' Maxim" - the difference between a poison and something benign is the dose. Most of the refactoring pattens come in pairs. You can "extract function" from a big one, or "inline function code" if it is short, obvious and singularly used, say. You can "replace parameter with query" or "replace query with a parameter". The only unpaired pattern shows up with large/complex conditionals (say, a switch, or a multiway nested conditional with 'guard clause) - most/all of them are pain to read and should ideally be refactored, say, with "replace conditional with polymorphism". Live book site has 4 more patterns beyond the book.
I found the refactoring patterns could be of three principal dimensions - one, structure -- variable, method, class, conditional; two, usage and locality -- depending on how much they're used and if they are used within/outside the module (class); three, data and mutation -- there is a clear separation between refactoring a data (or, value) object/data passed as value- or reference; separating data (query) from command etc. On top of that, some of the refactoring could be thought of as "helping the original developer" (say, to modularize or DRY better) vs. "helping others who may read the code later".
When I read the first edition years ago, IDEs were not as robust nor opinionated enough about refactoring. These days, majority if not all the refactoring is done by default - one just needs to click to accept, say, extracting a method. It has been a huge time saving and long-term benefit for collaborative work and fits very well within the philosophy of "continuous integration"/Kaizen etc. One could argue that lowers the importance of such book. While the IDE may do the grunt work, key decisioning remains with humans, for now. Especially since most refactoring could appear in polar opposites it is therefore even more important to understand the context - the "why" - which this book brilliantly lays out.
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Sabine SchillerReviewed in Germany on December 31, 2025
Interessant
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase - wataru oguchiReviewed in Canada on December 16, 2023
Read this right now. It will change your behaviour.
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
