code-smells/change-preventers

Change preventers are architectural code smells where a single responsibility is scattered across multiple classes, forcing ripple edits. They include Divergent Change, Shotgun Surgery, and Parallel Inheritance Hierarchies, which complicate codebase evolution.

To fix shotgun surgery and divergent change, apply refactors like Extract Class, Move Method, or Inline Class. These techniques localize responsibilities and reduce coupling by consolidating scattered fields and methods into single, cohesive classes.

Consolidate parallel inheritance hierarchies when modifications to one hierarchy force mirrored edits in another, such as pairing UI and domain subclasses. Hierarchy consolidation localizes responsibilities and stops change ripples across unrelated architectural structures.

Yes, you can detect code smells from recent commits by reviewing ripple patterns across classes and hierarchies. Analyzing commit history for repeated edits or mirrored structures surfaces divergent change and shotgun surgery for targeted restructuring.

The best way to stop change ripples is identifying the offending pattern and prescribing targeted restructuring. Applying architectural refactorings like Move Field and Extract Class localizes responsibilities, preventing a new policy from touching many files.