Skip to content

Activity Quote by Martin Fowler

“In almost all cases, I’m opposed to setting aside time for refactoring. In my view refactoring is not an activity you set aside time to do. Refactoring is something you do all the time in little bursts.” quote by Martin Fowler
Download Open image
“In almost all cases, I’m opposed to setting aside time for refactoring. In my view refactoring is not an activity you set aside time to do. Refactoring is something you do all the time in little bursts.”

Martin Fowler

About This Quote

Source Book: Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code, 1999

Refactoring should be integrated continuously into development rather than scheduled as a separate task.

In simple terms: Refactor constantly, not as a special event.

Key Takeaway

Make small, frequent improvements.

Themes

software development code quality continuous improvement

Mood

pragmatic reflective

Type

advice technical.

When to use this quote

  • daily coding
  • code reviews
  • pair programming
  • maintenance
  • feature development

Key Concepts

technical debt incremental change

Questions to Reflect On

  • How can you embed refactoring into your workflow?
  • What small refactor can you do now?
A Different Perspective

Continuous refactoring may conflict with tight deadlines or urgent feature delivery.

4.3 out of 5 (6 ratings)

More by Martin Fowler

Explore all 25 Martin Fowler quotes

More Activity quotes

Browse all 3,263 Activity quotes