Refactoring helps you grow
If your product is becoming a bottleneck for growth, if further development is slowing down, or if the UI feels outdated, it might be time to consider refactoring.
Refactoring is a standard part of product development in which technical debt (delayed maintenance) is regularly cleaned up to ensure your application remains scalable, secure, user-friendly, and easy to extend. If this hasn’t been done in a while, we can help you modernize your software.
“The GlobalOrange team brought an enormous amount of expertise and knowledge to the table and has far exceeded our expectations. Working in harmony with our in-house development team, this collaboration has brought us to where we are today with the platform.”
What is Refactoring?
Refactoring is the process of restructuring the code of a software product with the goal of simplifying it and improving readability. It makes the code easier to understand and adapt, making your product more future-proof.
Refactoring does not change how the product functions. Ideally, it’s a recurring step in agile product development, as the result of refactoring is cleaner, more efficient
Geplaagd door tech debt
Producten met te veel technical debt, oftewel achterstallig onderhoud, zijn moeilijker uitbreidbaar, niet veilig en minder prettig om mee te werken. Een indicatie kan zijn als het ontwikkelen van features of het doen van aanpassingen langer duurt dan je verwacht of de performance van je applicatie niet optimaal is en de schaalbaarheid te wensen overlaat.
Technical debt is het gevolg van het nemen van shortcuts of het nemen van suboptimale beslissingen tijdens het ontwikkelen. Net als financiële schulden, hoopt technische schuld op en resulteert in steeds lagere productiviteit en hogere, onnodige complexiteit. Dit resulteert uiteraard in hogere kosten voor onderhoud en ontwikkeling en minder snelle groei omdat innovatie achter blijft.
Het is belangrijk dat de technical debt actief aangepakt zodat software ontwikkeling weer een katalysator voor groei wordt!
Voorkomen van technical debt
Een kritische blik op je processen kan helpen technical debt te voorkomen. Maak peer reviews en code-reviews standaard onderdeel van je proces en maak waar nodig gebruik van pair-programming. Tooling zoals SonarCloud zorgen ervoor dat je code continu wordt gecontroleerd en je voorziet van feedback. Er zijn verschillende mogelijkheden om de impact van refactoring op jouw code te controleren.
“Your company’s growth should never be held back by technical debt—it’s that simple.”
Measuring the Impact of Refactoring on Quality and Productivity
When code refactoring is carried out for one of our clients, it’s helpful for them to be able to measure the impact on code quality and productivity. Although this can be a challenge, we’ve outlined several approaches you might consider.
- First, you can use code metrics tools to measure specific aspects of code quality, such as cyclomatic complexity, code duplication, or code coverage. By tracking these metrics before and after refactoring, it becomes possible to assess improvements in code quality.
- You can also make use of bug tracking. This allows you to monitor the number and severity of bugs reported before and after refactoring. A decrease in bug count or severity indicates an improvement in the quality and reliability of the code.
- Code review feedback is another useful method—gather input from developers during code reviews after refactoring. If feedback includes positive remarks about code readability, maintainability, and reduced complexity, it’s a strong sign that the refactoring effort has improved code quality. You can also use user feedback, such as reported issues, support requests, or satisfaction surveys. A decline in the frequency of reported issues or an increase in user satisfaction after refactoring suggests a positive impact on software quality.
- Measure the development time needed to implement new features or bug fixes. If this time decreases over successive iterations or sprints after refactoring, it indicates improved productivity due to a cleaner and more maintainable codebase. Additionally, tracking performance metrics such as response time, memory usage, or CPU load before and after refactoring can show whether the refactoring had a positive effect on performance and efficiency.
Keep in mind that these measurements should be tracked over a sufficiently long period to account for potential fluctuations or external factors. It’s also important to establish a baseline by recording relevant data before the refactoring process begins, to enable meaningful comparison.
Which Code to Refactor?
Whether you’re working with React, Java, Python, or another tech stack, we have the expertise to modernize your digital product and make it future-proof. That includes .NET and other codebases as well.
React
Optimize your React app: our experts make your codebase smarter, faster, and easier to maintain. Legacy issues and unnecessary complexity are eliminated, preparing your product for future growth.
Python
Let our developers prepare your Python code for growth. Our experts refactor your software for improved readability and performance. Technical debt is eliminated, and your application becomes future-ready.
Java
Streamline your Java code: our experts refactor your application for better structure, improved performance, and easier maintenance. Outdated complexity is removed, making your software future-proof.
Put an End to Your IT Worries
Over the years, we’ve helped many clients modernize their products—always taking their other priorities into account. This means that a refactoring phase can coincide with the delivery of a new release. The refactoring plan is aligned with both your short- and long-term goals. We make sure your IT problems are resolved—and prevented in the future. This enables you to fully realize your ambitions.
We guarantee you peace of mind by building your product the right way, so you can focus on growing your business.
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De voor- en nadelen van refactoring op lange en korte termijn
Refactoring speelt een belangrijke rol in de ontwikkeling van software en biedt zowel op korte als lange termijn voordelen maar ook enkele uitdagingen.
Op korte termijn zijn er twee voordelen:
- Verbeterde leesbaarheid van de code: Refactoring maakt de codebase leesbaarder en beter te begrijpen, wat helpt bij het sneller oplossen van problemen tijdens de ontwikkeling.
- Verbeterde onderhoudbaarheid: Refactoring elimineert dubbele code, verbetert modulariteit, en vereenvoudigt complexe code structuren, waardoor de codebase gemakkelijker te onderhouden en aan te passen is.
De voordelen op lange termijn:
- Code kwaliteit en stabiliteit: Refactoring verbetert de kwaliteit van de code door technical debt op te lossen, code smells te analyseren en best practices te implementeren. Dit resulteert in een stabieler en betrouwbaarder softwareproduct.
- Schaalbaarheid en performance: Refactoring resulteert in een geoptimaliseerde codebase. Dit draagt bij aan schaalbaarheid en performance, maar helpt vooral bij het makkelijker proactief identificeren en oplossen van performance problemen.
- Aanpassingsvermogen aan verandering: Refactoring maakt de codebase flexibeler en aanpasbaar aan veranderende eisen en technologische vooruitgang, waardoor nieuwe functies gemakkelijker kunnen worden geïntegreerd en de impact van toekomstige veranderingen wordt beperkt.
De nadelen op korte termijn:
- Refactoring kan de ontwikkeling tijdelijk vertragen, omdat het tijd en moeite kost. Het kan gevolgen hebben voor korte-termijn deadlines of deliverables. Daar staat tegenover dat toekomstige ontwikkelingen dus wel sneller gaan.
- Risico op bugs: Refactoring kan, indien niet goed uitgevoerd, nieuwe bugs of onbedoelde neveneffecten introduceren. Dit risico neemt toe met de complexiteit van de codebase en de omvang van de aangebrachte wijzigingen. Om dit risico te mitigeren is het inbouwen van unit-tests in de code belangrijk.
Belangrijk bij refactoring is het management van verwachtingen: stakeholders kunnen onmiddellijk rendement verwachten van de investering in refactoring. Goede communicatie en het managen van verwachtingen zijn belangrijk om ervoor te zorgen dat belanghebbenden de voordelen op lange termijn en mogelijke afwegingen begrijpen.
Refactoring, Further Development and Maintenance
The SCA Group is a global market leader in sustainable personal care, hygiene, and forest products. The company sells its products in approximately one hundred countries through strong brands such as TENA, Tork, Lotus, Libresse, and Tempo. GlobalOrange is SCA’s dedicated technology partner for all application development and maintenance related to the consultation application.
In a short transition period of just one month, GlobalOrange successfully built up the required knowledge and took over application management and further development. Through a targeted refactoring plan, the application was improved in several critical areas. Ensuring the security of patient data is of paramount importance. That’s why security is an integral part of the development strategy—from design to development and testing. A combination of Lean and Agile methodologies forms the foundation for the continued innovation of the consultation platform. As more than 500 pharmacies are now connected, any change has an immediate and significant impact.
“At GlobalOrange, we’ve found a reliable technology partner. The Agile Scrum approach and the pleasant collaboration have led to a great result—delivering more than originally planned, within both budget and timeline. We’re confident that the collaboration in the coming year will be just as enjoyable and successful as it has been so far!”
Guido is happy to help you
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