# Refactoring

Refactoring is very important in relation to these topics.
Just as important as the other topics covered here, is how to take good code and
turn it into great code.

We can use [design patterns](../patterns/index.md) to [DRY] up code and generalize
abstractions. We must avoid [anti-patterns](../anti_patterns/index.md) while we
do this. While they may be tempting to employ, their costs outweigh their benefits.

> Shortcuts make for long days.

We can also use [idioms](../idioms/index.md) to structure our code in a way that
is understandable.

## Tests

Tests are of vital importance during refactoring.

## Small changes

[DRY]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_repeat_yourself