moai-workflow-ddd

Characterization tests capture the current behavior of legacy code before any changes are made. They act as a safety net by locking in existing outputs, allowing you to perform incremental transformations while continuously verifying that observable behavior remains preserved.

You can start a DDD refactor by evaluating your current code, preserving its behavior with characterization tests, and outlining incremental improvements. This step-by-step process ensures continuous verification during the incremental transformation of your legacy codebase.

This approach is designed for mid-to-large codebases with existing tests. However, it directly addresses behavior preservation by generating characterization tests to capture current behavior, effectively creating the safety net required before structural improvements begin.

The best way to reduce technical debt without breaking functionality is applying an incremental refactoring workflow. It preserves behavior by creating snapshots and characterization tests, ensuring that structural changes are continuously validated against existing domain logic.

Ast-grep is included in this refactoring workflow to support structural code analysis and transformations. It assists in the incremental improvement phase by helping identify and modify code patterns while maintaining the behavior snapshots captured earlier.