I’m close to being able to explain why Extract Function is the most-used refactoring. Not sure why I didn’t ask this question for 30 years but here we are. #TidyTogether - ThreadSky

kentbeck.com • 54 days ago

I’m close to being able to explain why Extract Function is the most-used refactoring. Not sure why I didn’t ask this question for 30 years but here we are. #TidyTogether

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andrewstellman.bsky.social•54 days ago

Extract Function is simple, obvious, easy to use, and easy to explain, so what's really easy to start using – those all make it easy to adopt.

But I bet one big reason it's the most-used refactoring is that it has a very small scope – it only affects one file/class/etc. at a time.

daverooney.dev•54 days ago

I finished a 3 month programming gig today on some legacy Ruby & Rails code. I spent the last hours extracting duplicated code out into a module. The tests all passed before, the tests passed during and the tests passed after.

Another dev was shocked that I'd even try this on my last day! 😀

daverooney.dev•54 days ago

Oh, and the functionality worked the same as before... it wasn't a case of trusting only the tests 😂

jasongorman.bsky.social•54 days ago

There's a little dance I do often: I call it "chunking".

Extract method -> Introduce Parameter Object (or "Transform Parameters" in Resharper/Rider, for reasons probably) -> Move Instance Method.

This is often followed by Introduce Field (initialise in constructor) -> Introduce Parameter.

jasongorman.bsky.social•54 days ago

It would be great if I could just select a block of code and click "Separate Concern" .

I suspect we may have cities on Mars before that happens.

italkswe.bsky.social•54 days ago

The AIs have already mastered “Mix Concerns” so we’re half way there!

emilybache.com•54 days ago

The ppl making the tools will invest in improving them if they see the existing refactorings being used widely. Both you and I are working on that :-)

jasongorman.bsky.social•54 days ago

I probably convert a lot of devs from e.g., VS Code or Vim to a JetBrains equivalent, just from demos that use that menu :-)

It's usually the first time they've even seen it.

docbohn.bsky.social•54 days ago

Back in the early 2000s, JetBrains released the first commercial version of IntelliJ IDEA. After trying it a little, I gladly forked over the cost of an academic license.

I'm half-surprised that I didn't wear out the Rename Variable/Method/Whatever part of the refactoring menu.

rebeccawb.bsky.social•54 days ago

How many devs know this: refactoring can / should be tool supported?

+1 for refactoring tools

jasongorman.bsky.social•54 days ago

Refactoring's still probably the rarest skill in software development, in reality.

ursenzler.bsky.social•54 days ago

I'm surprised that the tooling is still a problem because the "Extract method" refactoring is available in R#/Rider like for ever.
And in F#, I simply select some code and move it into a function because everything is an expression anyway.

imnachos.bsky.social•54 days ago

My gut response to this would be that it's because it is a very natural way to "compartimentalizing" the problem and generating new abstractions (a new function) with a clear name that serves also as a summary reminder of what it does. It's also kinda like a new layer of indirection.

thegatelessgate.bsky.social•54 days ago

My last two days have been a festival of extract function with intermittent reordering of things to enable the next extract function

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