Beyond the refactoring browser: advanced tool support for software refactoring

Current refactoring tools only provide support for performing selected refactorings. We show how tool support can be provided for the preparatory phases of refactoring as well, by determining when a software application should be refactored and which refactoring(s) in particular should be applied. We implemented a tool to detect bad smells and to propose adequate refactorings based on these smells, and validated this tool by carrying out experiments in three concrete case studies: the Soul application, the Smalltalk collection hierarchy, and the HotDraw application framework. We also show how our tool complements the Smalltalk refactoring browser.