Refactoring to more code

Refactor my code is a neat site where you can post your code and watch others refactor it. I saw an interesting bit of code whiz past and thought I’d take a crack at it.

Removing conditionals from code is one of the little games I sometimes play while coding. Here, I’ve extracted the logic of the conditional into another class. The resulting class is much more code than the original. So why do that?

Well, I say you get a few benefits:

  • The logic is now far easier to test. It’s a standalone object now rather than a Rails functional test.
  • The flow of what’s being done and tested is more decomposed and easier to follow.
  • Most importantly, the code explains itself. No need for comments (which will undoubtedly go out of sync over time) here!

While I delight in deleting code and writing as little as possible, refactoring this to more code seems the right way. What say you?

Update: Make sure you check out Marcel Molina’s refactoring. Its probably better than mine ;)

Adam Keys @therealadam