To Refactor or Reengineer Your Software? Our Approach to Decision-Making 

In software development, deciding when and what to refactor or reengineer is an important decision. Refactoring involves making small, incremental changes to your code without altering its functionality; typically only 10-20% of code is changed when you refactor. In contrast, reengineering (also referred to as rewriting) means making significant changes to both the code structure and software architecture. 

Circumstances that can necessitate refactoring or rewriting include:

• Performance bottlenecks impacting user experience;
• Outdated technologies posing security risks;
• Scalability limitations hindering growth;
• Difficulty adding new features due to code complexity;
• Frequent bugs or high maintenance costs; and
• Changing business requirements requiring architectural changes.

When deciding which approach makes sense for your software – refactoring or re-engineering – you need to consider technical debt, business value, and resource allocation. Here’s the framework our Revelry team uses to guide the decision-making process:

Assess Your Software’s Current State

• Evaluate code quality, maintainability, and technical debt
• Analyze performance metrics and determine scalability issues
• Review bug frequency and severity

Consider Business Impact

• Determine if current limitations affect business goals
• Assess the potential ROI of refactoring or rewriting
• Consider time-to-market for new features

Evaluate Your Team’s Capacity and Expertise

• Assess available resources for refactoring / rewriting
• Consider your team’s familiarity with existing systems
• Evaluate skills needed for potential rewrites

Analyze Risks

• Consider potential disruptions to ongoing development
• Evaluate impact on existing integrations and dependencies
• Assess risks of introducing new bugs or regressions

Define the Scope and Set Objectives

• Identify specific components or modules for refactoring
• Consider the pros and cons of incremental refactoring vs. complete rewrites
• Define measurable goals for any effort
• Define success (performance improvements, reduced maintenance costs, etc.)

Consider Alternatives

• Explore if issues / challenges can be addressed through other means (optimization, architecture changes, etc.)
• Evaluate off-the-shelf solutions or third-party consulting services

Think Through the Timing

• Align with your product roadmap and release schedule
• Consider market pressures and competitive landscape

Whether you decide on refactoring or reengineering, working through this process will help you and your team better understand what’s needed and what to expect – and that, in and of itself – is a win.   

If you need help refactoring or rewriting software, let’s connect. We love this stuff!

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Bugs Code Code Quality technical debt