1. Maintenance is easier

Legacy code architecture erodes over time and becomes difficult to maintain. Legacy code bugs are harder to find and fix. Testing any changes in legacy code takes longer. Even small changes can inadvertently break the application because over time the design has been extended to accommodate new features and the code has become increasingly coupled. Refactoring code allows you to improve the architecture, reduce the coupling, and help the development team understand the intended design of the system. A clean architecture makes the design understandable and easier to manage and change.

Read our other blog on Reasons NOT to Refactor.

2. Make the Design Modular

Split up large applications into components. For instance, monolithic applications can be split up into microservices. In embedded systems, interfaces are created to allow drivers to be written to support a variety of hardware devices. These drivers serve to encapsulate the logic for interacting with different hardware devices. Also, most large applications can often be layered into separate layers such as the business logic and the user interface, which can itself be split up into various pages, forms, dialogs and other components. Modularity simplifies the design and is probably the most effective way to increase team productivity.

Check out our blog on a New Way to Think About Software Design.

3. Refactoring is often the cheaper option

When faced with new requirements that appear not to fit into the current design, it is often tempting to propose a complete rewrite. However, a rewrite can be expensive and highly risky. When a rewrite of a project fails it leaves in its wake a dispirited organization with no product to take to market. Before starting a rewrite, do a what-if exercise on the current application to see what would need to change to support the new requirements. Often large parts of an application can be salvaged while other parts are refactored, thereby reducing risk and saving considerable time and effort.

4. Your development team is happier

A design that is easy to understand reduces stress on the team. A modular design allows different team members to improve different components of the project at the same time without breaking each other’s code.