Combining structural and semantic cohesion measures to identify extract class refactoring
by Mustafa Hammad; Mohammad Alnabhan; Sarah Al-Sarairah
International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology (IJCAT), Vol. 61, No. 3, 2019

Abstract: Class cohesion is a major design factor that affects the quality of classes. Classes that have related methods are easy to comprehend and maintain. Classes with many responsibilities are refactored by extracting some methods to new classes. This paper investigates class metrics to identify extract class refactoring opportunities to increase the degree of cohesion. An approach is presented that combines both the structural and the semantic metrics of classes to determine methods that need to be extracted in new classes. A case study is presented to evaluate the proposed approach. The aim of the study is to compare results obtained from applying semantic metrics, structural metrics, and combined metrics together. Results revealed that the proposed approach can provide a valuable set of extract class refactoring suggestions to improve class cohesion.

Online publication date: Tue, 08-Oct-2019

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology (IJCAT):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com