Software Refactoring Workbook: Measuring "Smells"
- Smells Covered
- Comments
- Long Method
- Large Class
- Long Parameter List
- More Challenges
- Conclusion
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
The smells in this chapter are similar. They're dead easy to detect. They're objective (once you decide on a way to count and a maximum acceptable score). They're odious.
And, they're common.
You can think of these smells as being caught by a software metric. Each metric tends to catch different aspects of why code isn't as good as it could be. Some metrics measure variants of code length; others try to measure the connections between methods or objects; others measure a distance from an ideal.
Most metrics seem to correlate with length, so I tend to worry about size first (usually noticeable as a Large Class or Long Method). But if a metric is easy to compute, I'll use it as an indicator that some section of code deserves a closer look.
Metrics are indicators, not absolutes. It's very easy to get into the trap of making numbers without addressing the total complexity. So don't refactor just for a better number; make sure it really improves your code.
Smells Covered
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Comments
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Long Method
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Large Class
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Long Parameter List