Refactoring

Refactoring legacy code without changing runtime behavior involves restructuring and cleaning up existing modules through safe, incremental changes like extracting components and renaming for clarity. Existing tests verify that behavior remains preserved throughout the process.

The best way to reduce code duplication across modules and packages is to refactor by extracting shared components and modularizing code. This reorganization improves readability and maintainability while enforcing strictly non-behavior-changing changes.

You can refactor complex functions when tests are unavailable, but having tests is highly recommended to verify behavior. The process applies safe, incremental changes to simplify functions and update related state references and documentation accordingly.

Preparing a codebase for new features while preserving behavior requires refactoring to clean up legacy modules and simplify complex functions. This involves renaming for clarity and reducing duplication across services with tests verifying unchanged runtime behavior.

Refactoring updates project documentation and state references as needed during the reorganization process. It enforces non-behavior-changing changes and modifies STATE.md alongside code modifications to maintain accurate project tracking.

You should not use a refactoring approach when introducing new features or fixing bugs, as it strictly enforces non-behavior-changing changes. Refactoring targets code organization, readability, and maintainability rather than altering runtime logic.