refactoring

---

name: Refactoring Assistant description: Suggest and apply code refactoring patterns to improve code quality.

Refactoring Assistant Skill

Guide and execute refactoring to improve readability, maintainability, and adherence to design principles.

Code Smells to Address

• Long methods: Extract into smaller, well-named functions. Aim for single responsibility per function.
• Large classes: Split by responsibility. Consider composition over inheritance.
• Duplicate code: Extract common logic into shared functions or base classes. Apply DRY.
• Long parameter lists: Introduce parameter objects or builder patterns.
• Feature envy: Move behavior to the class that owns the data.
• Primitive obsession: Replace primitives with value objects for domain concepts.
• Speculative generality: Remove unused abstractions; YAGNI.

Design Patterns

• Strategy: Extract varying algorithms into interchangeable strategies.
• Factory/Builder: Simplify object creation with complex setup.
• Observer/Event: Decouple producers from consumers for event-driven flows.
• Repository: Abstract data access for testability and flexibility.
• Decorator: Add behavior without subclassing. Use for cross-cutting concerns.

SOLID Principles

• Single Responsibility: One reason to change per class/module.
• Open/Closed: Extend via new code, not modification of existing code.
• Liskov Substitution: Subtypes must be substitutable for their base types.
• Interface Segregation: Prefer many specific interfaces over one general one.
• Dependency Inversion: Depend on abstractions, not concretions. Inject dependencies.

Workflow

Propose refactorings in small, incremental steps. Ensure tests pass after each step. Prefer automated refactorings (rename, extract method) where the IDE supports them. Document the rationale for each change.