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to refactor

to refactor

2 6.1
To change computer code to make it cleaner and easier to understand without changing what it does
  • verb
  • /ˌriːˈfæktər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : refactorizar
  • To improve the software's efficiency, the developer decided to refactor the code without changing its functionality.

So you mentioned rewrite before or refactor before features.

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Examples

  • OK, so to make all that happen, we're going to refactor the child stage so that we can use it for both the dashboard and the pop up.

  • Refactoring tools have never bothered me overly much; I just refactor by hand.

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  • And so I tend to think that, you know, it's kind of, you know, you always have to refactor technologies as you go.

  • Also important is to understand when a system is getting out of hand and needs to either be refactored or started over.

    Blog text (17)
  • I've defined Open() for four classes already; maybe I could use an interface here and refactor some code into a common function.

    Blog text (23)
  • The agency currently has legacy applications that are written in a dated computer language that must be refactored to enable mission support applications currently in development to reach production status.

    Blog text (13)
  • Once a component needs to be reused, then it should be refactored into something extremely generic, but not before.

    Blog text (31)
  • For example, I would use Backbone.js on an existing application to refactor my jQuery code or on an application that has a handful of dynamic components.

    Blog text (3)
  • If you think you need to rewrite your Perl code in C or C++ and refactor it in the process because it is too slow, start by just refactoring the Perl code because you will probably be surprised at how much of the original problem was due to a bad design.

    Blog text (23)
  • After several users reported issues, the team will refactor the existing code to enhance performance.

Synonyms

to functionalize
vsto refactor
  • Specialized
8.0

Rewrite code to split it into small parts that each do one job

focuses on improving internal structure without changing program behavior

Antonyms

101 4.1

To make something harder to understand or do

49 5.1

To make something worse in quality or value

How Reworked

to rewrite
112 2.8
to reengineer
  • Specialized
3 5.5
to refactor
  • Specialized
2 6.1
tweak
28 3.9

Surface Forms

refactor infinitive
refactored past
refactored past participle
refactoring present participle
refactors third person singular

Morphology

refactor = factor (semi-transparent) = re + factor

The formation 're-' + 'factor' is morphologically regular and the meaning 'do factor again' is clear at the immediate-base level.

Etymology

Refactor comes from the prefix re- meaning 'again' and factor meaning 'part', so to refactor code is to change its parts to make them clearer and easier to work with while keeping what the code does the same.