cASpER: A Plug-in for Automated Code Smell Detection and Refactoring

Abstract

During software evolution, code is inevitably subject to continuous changes that are often performed by developers within short and strict deadlines. As a consequence, good design practices are often sacrificed, possibly leading to the introduction of sub-optimal design or implementation solutions, the so-called code smells. Several studies have shown that the presence of code smells makes the source code more change- and fault-prone, reduces productivity, and causes greater rework and more significant design efforts for developers. Refactoring is the practice that developers may use to remove code smells without changing the external behavior of the source code. However, it requires much time and effort and is poorly automated, often leading developers to prefer keeping low-quality code instead of spending time in designing and performing refactoring operations. To mitigate this problem and support developers throughout the process of code smell identification and refactoring, in this paper we present cASpER, a IntelliJ IDEA plugin that provides visual and semi-automatic support for detection and refactoring four different types of code smells. Tool. Jetbrains: https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/13659-casper Video. https://youtu.be/HBWF8fFJM8s