Top 20 Useful Refactoring Online Tools

"Refactoring tools are like a good pair of shoes for a carpenter: they help us work more efficiently and with less pain." - Martin Fowler

What Are Refactoring Tools?

Refactoring is the process of rewriting a piece of code without altering its main functionality. The motive behind this process is to give the underlying or internal logic of the application a better and more structured look. For ordinary users, however, there is no noticeable difference in the performance of the program before and after refactoring.

Refactoring can be done manually for programs of average size. However, conducting refactoring with an automated tool is easier and more reliable, producing better results. It should also be applicable to any formal document or computer language, and to a wide range of code patterns that indicate chances for basic refactoring.

Tools for Refactoring

Here is a list of great tools to help you refactor your code effectively.

  • Stepsize: With Stepsize, you can review technical debt and code that needs to be refactored and bookmark them as issues.

  • JustCode: With its rapid recommendations, code generation, unit test runner, and intelligent refactoring, JustCode blends smoothly with your natural workflow. Other functions offered by JustCode include code navigation and search, code generation, code templates, and decompilation for debugging.

  • Glean: Glean enables a variety of functions, like extracting JSX into new components, changing class components to functional components and vice versa, encasing JSX in conditionals, and simultaneously renaming state variables and their setters.

  • Refactoring Essentials: Refactoring C# and VB.NET code is made easier with this open-source, and free Visual Studio extension. Your code becomes more readable and better. The addon transforms code from C# to Visual Basic and vice versa as well as offers suggestions on how to write better code.

  • AppRefactoring: It is an application for fast and secure uniqueness checking in Java, C#, Swift, Kotlin, JavaScript, GO, PHP, Objective-C, Typescript, Node.js. The tool will help to analyze duplicates and overlaps as well as to refactor and improve code quality.

  • SonaLint: As you write code, SonarLint flags bugs and security vulnerabilities, similar to a spell checker, and provides explicit treatment instructions before the code is published.

  • Visual Assist: The Visual Assist plug-in for Visual Studio improves code by offering refactoring instructions, highlighting common syntax errors, and supporting spell-checking. By rearranging your code, the app makes it easier to read, more extensible, and less difficult.

  • Abracadabra: This app enhances your editor with shortcuts that launch the helpful elements quickly and suggests quick fixes that recommend refactorings when necessary.

  • ReSharper: With regard to code quality analysis, navigation and search, refactorings, code cleanup, coding review, unit testing, XAML editing tools, cross-language functionality, and Open API, ReSharper can be of extra help to developers.

  • CodeRush: CodeRush offers speedy refactoring, the ability to run test cases quickly, and the capacity to detect and repair bugs, and it aids engineers in producing better code more quickly.

  • JS Refactor: JavaScript developers can apply refactorings and speed up the development process by using this simple, but effective tool. You can easily remove duplicates in your Java Script code.

  • Code Style Enforcer: Code Style Enforcer guides against breaking configurable code rules and provides immediate visual feedback inside the editor.

  • RefactorInsight: Pull Request refactorings can be identified and labeled by RefatcorINsight. The refactoring history for classes, methods, and fields can also be viewed.

  • Snyk Vulnerability Scanner: Your projects can benefit from Snyk's Vulnerability Scanner's assistance in identifying and resolving security flaws and code quality problems.

  • SpotBugs: By analyzing static byte code, the IntelliJ SpotBugs plugin allows users of IntelliJ IDEA to find problems in Java code. With the use of static analysis, the Java defect detection tool SpotBugs can find types of bugs in your project.

  • Rope: Rope is a lightweight refactoring library for Python. It identifies every line and function in a project code where refactoring is needed.

  • OpenRewrite: This is an automated tool for mass refactoring Java source codes.

  • RefactorFirst: You can use this tool for Java codebases to determine which God Classes you should refactor first.

  • VIM PHP: VIM PHP is a plugin that contains multiple refactoring tools for PHP language. It can rename local variables, class variables, and methods, and detect unused USe statements.

  • LiquiGraph: Liquigraph is for database refactoring. Through the definition and iterative execution of migrations, it aids in the maintenance of the Neo4j database state.

Conclusion

Refactoring is often necessary for application developers, especially for large and scalable projects. This process helps to create better code and improve developer skills. The benefits of using the necessary automated refactoring tools are indisputable, so we have compiled a list of the top 20 refactoring tools and recommend Stepsize, AppRefactoring, JustCode and Glean as must-have tools.