Ref-Finder: a refactoring reconstruction tool based on logic query templates

Abstract

Knowing which parts of a system underwent which types of refactoring between two program versions can help programmers better understand code changes. Though there are a number of techniques that automatically find refactorings from two input program versions, these techniques are inadequate in terms of coverage by handling only a subset of refactoring types---mostly simple rename and move refactorings at the level of classes, methods, and fields. This paper presents a Ref-Finder Eclipse plug-in that automatically identifies both atomic and composite refactorings using a template-based refactoring reconstruction approach---it expresses each refactoring type in terms of template logic queries and uses a logic programming engine to infer concrete refactoring instances. Ref-Finder currently supports sixty three types in the Fowler's catalog, showing the most comprehensive coverage among existing techniques.