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Origin of the word Refactoring

Asked 2009-01-23T10:30:13.947
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Code refactoring is the process of changing a computer program's internal structure without modifying its external behavior or existing functionality.

What is the origin of the word refactoring and why was it chosen to denote the above?

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In Refactoring, Fowler wrote that he hasn't "succeded in pinning down the real birth of the term Refactoring". Wikipedia mentions the term was used by Forth programmers in the 80s, Fowler also spoke about the Smalltalk community.

Math factorization's certainly helped coining this term as you don't change the value of a mathematical expression what you factorize it.

answered 2009-01-23T12:45:48.743

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