You're Not Refactoring — You're Just Moving Code Around

You renamed UserHandler to UserProcessor, made five new classes, and called it a refactor. Spoiler: it’s not.

Refactoring is supposed to improve structure without changing behavior. But too often, it’s just an excuse to shuffle code around — adding layers, not clarity.

How to tell you’re just moving code around:

• You renamed things but didn't remove any logic
• You created new abstractions that wrap existing logic one-to-one
• You deleted helpful comments and added cryptic method names
• You added interfaces with one implementation — your own

Good refactoring feels different:

• Less code, fewer dependencies
• More understandable by the next dev
• Easier to test, or no longer needs tests to make sense

Refactoring is editing. It’s not furniture rearrangement.

👉 Full version with examples and dry wit here:

thecynical.dev/posts/youre-not-refactoring