Refactoring 030: How to avoid accidental redundancy
1 Identify methods that receive attributes belonging to the class or object In maintainable code, it is common for a method to receive as a parameter values that already belong to the object, so it is advisable to detect these cases to avoid accidental redundancy
2 Remove those parameters from the method signature Once redundant parameters are identified, their presence in the method signature should be removed to make it clear that the method operates on the internal state and does not depend on duplicated external data
3 Replace usage with direct access to the attribute Within the method body, substitute references to the removed parameter with direct access to the instance attribute, for example using this.attribute or the property name depending on the language, to avoid inconsistencies and ensure a single source of truth
4 Rename the method if necessary to reflect the new intention After changing the signature and internal usage, it may be advisable to rename the method to communicate that it now works with the object's state instead of processing external data
Practical example before and after Before Example in pseudocode class Order attribute total function updateTotal(total) total = total calculateTaxes total = total + taxes After remove parameter function updateTotal() total = this.total calculateTaxes total = this.total + taxes Rename to recalculateTotal if the intention is to recompute the total from the internal state
Associated best practices Review automated test coverage to detect changes in behavior Execute small and descriptive refactors Document intention with clear names Avoid mixing read and write responsibilities to maintain a coherent design Review in code review to catch cases where the source of truth was duplicated
Benefits of avoiding accidental redundancy Less risk of divergence between parameters and internal state Fewer parameters in method signatures Clearer and easier-to-use interfaces Code that is easier to test and maintain
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