Better Refactoring Tools for a Better Refactoring Strategy

Refactoring tools can improve the speed and accuracy with which we create and maintain software — but only if they are used. In practice, tools are not used as much as they could be; this seems to be because they do not align with the refactoring strategy preferred by the majority of programmers: floss refactoring. We propose five principles that characterize successful floss refactoring tools — principles that can help programmers to choose the most appropriate refactoring tools and also help toolsmiths to design more usable tools.