I just found this good resource with a summary of techniques to identify and refactor smelly code.
It’s a good summary of what you get explained with examples and detailed comments in the Fowler’s book.
The original post is at the java.net wiki SmellsToRefactorings
Smells Within Classes
| Comments | Should only be used to clarify “why” not “what”. Can quickly become verbose and reduce code clarity. |
| Long Method | The longer the method the harder it is to see what it’s doing. |
| Long Parameter List | Don’t pass in everything the method needs; pass in enough so that the method can get to everything it needs. |
| Duplicated Code | |
| Large Class | A class that is trying to do too much can usually be identified by looking at how many instance variables it has. When a class has too many instance variables, duplicated code cannot be far behind. |
| Type Embedded in Name | Avoid redundancy in naming. Prefer schedule.add(course) to schedule.addCourse(course) |
| Uncommunicative Name | Choose names that communicate intent (pick the best name for the time, change it later if necessary). |
| Inconsistent Names | Use names consistently. |
| Dead Code | A variable, parameter, method, code fragment, class, etc is not used anywhere (perhaps other than in tests). |
| Speculative Generality | Don’t over-generalize your code in an attempt to predict future needs. |
This post will be moved to TNW Wiki and Resources area… with the full list.
I had mentioned in another post I found a refactoring tool for VB.NET 2003 at KnowDotNet. I just wanted to thank their developers for saving the VB.NET 2003 community from doing refactoring manually, and special thanks to Les Smith for correcting some problems and giving a fast support.
For those curious about the tool, the url is here