Re:Ask HN: Better code readability/reviewability
by Someone on Tuesday November 08, 2016 @09:09PM
(#12905595)
You're looking for a refactoring tool that can perform 'inline method' refactorings (the reverse of 'extract method', which turns whatever you selected into a function call)
And yes, the idea is language-agnostic, but tools doing it aren't, and, generally, tools are easier to write for less dynamic languages.
One way to deal with code you do not understand is to print out the various functions, sit down with them away from your computer, but with a few differently colored pens or pencils, and start making notes.
It also can help if you can single-step through the code with a debugger, even if it's just to be able to write down a few (inputs, return value) pairs.
And yes, the idea is language-agnostic, but tools doing it aren't, and, generally, tools are easier to write for less dynamic languages.
One way to deal with code you do not understand is to print out the various functions, sit down with them away from your computer, but with a few differently colored pens or pencils, and start making notes.
It also can help if you can single-step through the code with a debugger, even if it's just to be able to write down a few (inputs, return value) pairs.