Refactoring has become an essential part of a developer’s skill set and research in the area has blossomed over the past ten years. Testing plays a fundamental role in the refactoring process in ensuring that any refactoring preserves the meaning. Their crossover is therefore an important one. This Special Section presents aspects of refactoring research from three different, yet important perspectives. Three extended papers are included from the Refactoring and Testing (RefTest) Workshop held in 2011 as part of the IEEE International Conference on Software Testing (ICST), Berlin between March 21st and 25th. The purpose of the RefTest Workshop funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of the UK was to bring together academics and practitioners to foster ways of tackling current problems in the area; the three papers have a strong industrial resonance and relevance.
Steve Counsell
Stephen Swift
August 2011