Refactoring for reuse: an empirical study

Refactoring is the de-facto practice to optimize software health. While several studies propose refactoring strategies design through applying patterns and removing defects, little known about how developers actually refactor their code improve its reuse. Therefore, we extract, from 1,828 open source projects, a set of refactorings that were intended reusability. We analyze impact reusability on state-of-the-art metrics, compare distribution types, with remaining mainstream refactorings. Overall, found applied in context reusability, different types development. In performed files are subject more level Reusability significantly impact, high-level elements, such as packages, classes, methods, while typical refactorings, all including identifiers, parameters. These findings provide practical insights into current reuse involving act refactoring.