“Code refactoring is not to be confused with code optimization. Code optimization is a completely different ball game, where the goal is to run the program as fast as possible by using as few CPU cycles as you can. The focus during optimization is to speed up the program, if it impedes code understandability then so be it. On the contrary refactoring may at times make your program slower, albeit most of the times by a small factor.”
From CodeDiesel. This is a pretty good discussion and series about code refactoring. The quote above in particular is useful because people confuse refactoring and optimization. It’s also a good introduction to the topic of refactoring for business people who work with or manage programmers.
