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Strategic refactoring planning

Plan and execute large-scale refactoring initiatives effectively

Develop a strategic approach to refactoring that balances technical debt reduction with feature delivery, minimizes risk, and maximizes value.

95 minutes
creation

Overview

Develop a strategic approach to refactoring that balances technical debt reduction with feature delivery, minimizes risk, and maximizes value.

Learning objectives

  • Identify refactoring priorities
  • Assess risks and dependencies
  • Create incremental plan
  • Build safety mechanisms

Instructions

Plan strategic refactoring:

1. Map technical debt areas 2. Prioritize by impact and risk 3. Design incremental approach 4. Build safety nets 5. Create success metrics

Steps

1

Debt mapping

25 minutes

Identify and categorize technical debt

2

Priority matrix

20 minutes

Prioritize refactoring targets

3

Incremental design

25 minutes

Create step-by-step approach

4

Safety planning

20 minutes

Build tests and rollback plans

5

Success metrics

5 minutes

Define measurement criteria

Pro tips

  • •Use strangler fig pattern for large changes
  • •Maintain feature delivery during refactoring
  • •Communicate value to stakeholders
  • •Celebrate refactoring wins

Example outcome

Refactoring strategy reducing technical debt by 40% over 6 months while maintaining feature velocity and zero production incidents.

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