What is Application Refactoring?
Application Refactoring is the process of restructuring an existing application's computer code without changing its intended function with the expectation of improved performance, code maintenance and security.
This process is also referred to as refactoring migration as it is typically undertaken so the application can run in a cloud environment. Refactoring can be a complex procedure, as the code changes must ensure that the external behavior of the application is not impacted. A business may consider refactoring as a viable approach if it wants to tap cloud benefits, scale or restructure code, and boost the application's agility.
There are four ways to refactor code:
- Complete refactoring, where 50% of the code is updated as well as the database.
- Minimal viable refactoring, where the minimum changes are made for an efficient solution.
- Container refactoring, where the app is placed in containers with minimal changes to the code.
- Serverless application refactoring, which is similar to container refactoring without its portability.
Application refactoring can be approached from many angles. The chosen path is dependent on the application's complexity. That's why the solution most often used is minimal viable refactoring. It allows the development teams to refactor in parts and check progress as it goes along.
What are the business benefits of refactoring?
- Streamline and scale: Over time, application code can become unwieldy with layers and layers of code that's grown over time - memory hogs. Application refactoring can improve the code's structure and lead to a faster, more efficient application requiring less memory.
- Enable cloud migration: Businesses may want to migrate those old applications to the cloud to save money, yet it's not committed to the cost required for it to become a cloud native application. Refactoring could benefit existing applications by providing the needed code adjustments for exploiting the cloud.
- Improve security by refactoring vulnerabilities: Even the best code can use a clean-up, especially with ongoing vulnerabilities. Just using minimum viable refactoring, the code can be reviewed to determine what adjustments can be made to establish greater security.
- Big Data: As your need for bigger and better analytics grows, this may become difficult to achieve. Refactoring parts of the code, could be the difference in enabling an application to better achieve the results you need to capture big data.