Last updated on Monday, October 06, 2025
@inproceedings{DuBoisWCRE2004,
author = {Bart {Du Bois} and Jan Verelst and Serge Demeyer},
booktitle = {Proceedings {WCRE}'04 (Working Conference on Reverse
Engineering)},
note = {Acceptance ratio: 28/78 = 36\%},
pages = {144-151},
publisher = {{IEEE} Press},
title = {Refactoring - Improving Coupling and Cohesion of
Existing Code},
year = {2004},
abstract = {Refactorings are widely recognized as ways to improve
the internal structure of object-oriented software
while maintaining its external behaviour.
Unfortunately, refactorings concentrate on the
treatment of symptoms (the so called code-smells),
thus improvements depend a lot on the skills of the
maintainer. Coupling and cohesion on the other hand
are quality attributes which are generally recognized
as being among the most likely quantifiable
indicators for software maintainability. Therefore,
this paper analyzes how refactorings manipulate
coupling/cohesion characteristics, and how to
identify refactoring opportunities that improve these
characteristics. As such we provide practical
guidelines for the optimal usage of refactoring in a
software maintenance process.},
annote = {internationalconference},
}