Refactoring C++ Code: A Practical Guide to Improving Architecture and Readability

The book "Refactoring C++ Code" is a practical guide for developers who want to transform legacy, tangled, or poorly designed C++ code into a clean, maintainable, and efficient system. Unlike general refactoring books, this edition is entirely focused on the specifics of the C++ language: working with templates, memory management, RAII, multiple inheritance, and other nuances.

The book is intended for experienced C++ developers (middle/senior level) who encounter legacy code, want to eliminate technical debt, or introduce modern standards (C++17/20) into an existing project. Beginner readers are recommended to first master the basics of C++.

What you will learn:

• How to identify "code smells": learn to recognize 24 types of problematic constructs specific to C++ (e.g., excessive copying, incorrect use of smart pointers, macros instead of constexpr).
• Step-by-step refactoring techniques: over 50 specific methods — from simple variable renaming to complex decomposition of template classes and replacing inheritance with composition.
• Change safety: how to use unit testing, static analyzers (Clang-Tidy, PVS-Studio), and sanitizers to avoid breaking working code.
• Modern C++: how to replace outdated idioms (raw pointers, manual memory management) with RAII, move semantics, std::optional, and std::variant.
• Architectural improvements: implementing design patterns (Strategy, Visitor, Factory) without unnecessary complexity, refactoring monolithic classes, and reducing module coupling.

Edition features:

• All code examples are written in modern C++17/20 and are available for download.
• Real-world cases from industrial projects: from game engines to financial systems.
• A chapter on working with legacy code: how to add tests to a non-testable project and gradually improve it without a complete rewrite.
• Tool comparison: CLion, ReSharper C++, Visual Studio — which refactorings can be automated.

After reading, you will be able to confidently reorganize code of any complexity, reduce debugging and feature addition time, and most importantly, enjoy working with a clean, well-structured C++ project. The book will become a desktop reference for anyone who writes C++ professionally.