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foolab.ca | @foolabca Rewriting
 15-Year-Old Code ConFoo, Vancouver - December 6, 2016

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Anna Filina • Project rescue expert. • Fix performance issues. • Refactor legacy code. • Workshops & advice on legacy, testing, Symfony, API. • FooLab + ConFoo 2

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You Inherited a
 15-Year-Old Codebase Code Doesn't Age Like Wine

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The Web Was 600px Wide 4

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Feeling Old Yet? • Y2K bug. • Internet Explorer 5. • ICQ was starting to be cool. • Rounded corners = status symbol. 5

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Code Smells

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Mixed Concerns

Total:

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Global Functions & Constants include("functions.php"); MyClass::myMethod(); // namespaced function? myMethod(DEV_MODE); 8

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False Security $clean = htmlentities($_GET['password']); // use filter extension or a framework // use prepared statements 9

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Inexplicable Conditions if ($order_id > 20117) { // use this sql } else { // use that sql } // weakness = time to refactor 10

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Long Methods public function importCsv($path, $googleApiKey, $databaseDsn, $databaseUser, $databasePassword) { // Convert CSV to array of conferences $lines = file($path); $csv = array_map('str_getcsv', $lines); $conferences = []; foreach ($csv as $line) { $conference = new Conference(); $conference->name = $line[0]; $conference->location = $line[1]; $conferences[] = $conference; // Get coordinates for location $location = urlencode($conference->location); $url = 'https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address='.$location.'&key='.$googleApiKey; $curl = curl_init(); curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, $url); curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1); $response = curl_exec($curl); curl_close($curl); $json = json_decode($response); if (count($json->results) == 0) { continue; } $latitude = $json->results[0]->geometry->location->lat; $longitude = $json->results[0]->geometry->location->lng; $coordinates = $latitude.','.$longitude; $conference->coordinates = $coordinates; // Save conference to database $pdo = new PDO($databaseDsn, $databaseUser, $databasePassword); $statement = $pdo->prepare('REPLACE INTO conference (name, location, coordinates) VALUES (?, ?, ?)'); $statement->execute([ $conference->name, $conference->location, $conference->coordinates, ]); 11

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Average Legacy Code File • 3000-6000 lines of code. • Half of it is commented "in case we need it later". • Method length of 800 lines. • Abuse of helper classes. • Sometimes no classes at all. 12

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Codebase • 5,000 classes. • 20,000 methods. • 1,500,000 lines of code. 13

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Before You Code

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Strategy • Make a strategy based on constraints. • Full rewrite vs progressive: ◦ By class. ◦ By feature/module. ◦ By HTTP call. • How to run code side-by-side: ◦ Session sharing. ◦ mod_rewrite. 15

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Data Can Be Lost, Stuff Can Break • Backup: test restore. • Nullify sensitive data. • Staging: simulate deployments/ upgrades/batch processes. • Automate tests before code changes. • Make a risk assessment: ◦ Don't be too optimistic. ◦ Account for side-effects. 16

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Rewrite Example

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PHP 3 to PHP 5.6 • HTML + PHP + SQL in same file. • Includes all over the place. • IFs that concatenate SQL. • Previous rewrite attempt: ◦ Failed, made things worse. ◦ Folders of dead code. ◦ Classes with static functions (no instances). 18

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Solution • Rewrite complex forms in Symfony: ◦ mod_rewrite for concerned pages. • Rewrite biggest module as OOP: ◦ Design extraction. ◦ Flexible architecture. ◦ Automated tests. 19

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Design Extraction

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Avoid Code Bias • Old code → design docs. • Validate design docs: ◦ Clarify business rules. • Improve design: ◦ Reduce technical debt. ◦ More flexible. • Design docs → new code. 21

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Fixing Bugs

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Code Duplication • Sometimes, the bug is repeated 80+ times. • Remove duplications ASAP. 23

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Fix Long Methods • Extract broken part into its own method. • Write unit tests for it. • Fix it. • Call it from the mega-method. 24

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Spot Logical Groups 25 Code block Comment Code block Comment Code block Comment Convert CSV to array of conferences. Get coordinates for conference location. Save conference to database.

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Extract 26 Code block Comment Code block Method Code block Comment Call method

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Name 27 Code block Method Code block Method Call method Call method Code block Method Call method getConferencesFromCsv getLocationCoordinates saveConference

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Rewrite Example #2

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ASP Classic to PHP 5.6 • 15+ spaghetti and hacks. • Language no longer supported. • Huge ERP with lots of code. 29

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Solution • Rewrite page by page to framework. • mod_rewrite for concerned pages. • DB session adapter in both apps. • Page in any language = HTTP request. ◦ Guzzle tests FTW! 30

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Guzzle Tests 31

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Stuck?

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Try Something New • Bounce ideas. ◦ New people to avoid tunnel vision. • Has this been done before? • Can I try another approach? 33

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Takeaways • Make a strategy. • You touch it, you refactor it. • Use known tools & methodologies. • Get inspiration from others. • Refactoring gets easier. • Every problem has a solution. 34

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@afilina afilina.com