Programming Concepts Intermediate

What is Refactoring?

Restructuring existing code without changing its external behavior to improve readability, maintainability, and performance.

Refactoring improves code quality without altering functionality. Common refactoring operations include extracting methods, renaming variables, removing duplication, simplifying conditionals, and breaking up large classes.

Automated tests are essential for safe refactoring — they verify behavior remains unchanged after restructuring. IDEs provide automated refactoring tools. Martin Fowler's "Refactoring" book is the definitive guide.

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A surface indication in code that usually corresponds to a deeper problem in the system, suggesting the need for refactoring.

A data structure that follows First-In-First-Out (FIFO) ordering, where elements are added at the rear and removed from the front.

A mathematical notation that describes the worst-case performance of an algorithm as input size grows.

Testing individual components or functions of a program in isolation to verify they work correctly.

Code that is easy to read, understand, and maintain — following consistent conventions, meaningful naming, and single-responsibility functions.

Functional Programming

A programming paradigm that treats computation as the evaluation of mathematical functions, avoiding state changes and mutable data.

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