A Structure-Driven Process of Automated Refactoring to Design Patterns

Abstract

Design patterns can be introduced into an existing code by a code restructuring. It is counted to one of goals of code refactoring. This paper presents a process that automates this kind of refactoring. The approach is based on a structural code analysis aimed at design pattern relevance. The process consists of three main phases: code analysis, determination of a refactoring range, and realization of code restructuring. The latter is a complex code2code transformation, which comprises a series of code refactoring steps. A decision about a range of a design pattern application is taken by a user or can be automated. In both cases, it is supported by a software relevance metric. A framework for the whole process has been implemented as an extension of Eclipse. Code refactoring to exemplary design patterns can be performed in a prototype tool for Java programs.