A systematic literature review: Refactoring for disclosing code smells in object oriented software

Abstract

Context: Reusing a design pattern is not always in the favor of developers. Thus, the code starts smelling. The presence of "Code Smells" leads to more difficulties for the developers. This racket of code smells is sometimes called Anti-Patterns. Objective: The paper aimed at a systematic literature review of refactoring with respect to code smells. However the review of refactoring is done in general and the identification of code smells and anti-patterns is performed in depth. Method: A systematic literature survey has been performed on 238 research items that includes articles from leading Conferences, Workshops and premier journals, theses of researchers and book chapters. Results: Several data sets and tools for performing refactoring have been revealed under the specified research questions. Conclusion: The work done in the paper is an addition to prior systematic literature surveys. With the study of paper the attentiveness of readers about code smells and anti-patterns will be enhanced. ? 2017.