front matter
Have you ever read a book on software and thought that the author was talking over your head? Did the book use unfamiliar vocabulary and overly complex concepts to make its points? Did it make you feel as though it was written for some elite inner circle of know-it-alls that didn’t include you?
Neither is this book a primer. It doesn’t start at the atom and bore you with the basics of programming and languages. It doesn’t try to coddle you and keep you safe. I guarantee that this book will challenge you. But it will challenge you without intimidating you and without insulting your intelligence.
Refactoring is the discipline of transforming bad code into good code without breaking it. When we consider that our entire civilization now depends on software for its further existence, it seems unlikely that there is a topic more worthy of study.
Perhaps you think that’s hyperbolic. It’s not. Look around you. How many processors running software are currently on your body? Your watch, your phone, your car keys, your headphones . . . how many are within 30 meters of you? Your microwave, your stove, your dishwasher, your thermostat, your clothes washer . . . and how about your car?