# Refactoring vs The Pragmatic Programmer

Status: reviewed
Research basis: mini-only

Verdict: ✅ Complementary

Conflict: 12%
Overlap: 38%
Complementarity: 78%

## Loading Decision

Use together when changing existing code: one rule set controls safe change sequencing while the other defines the target design, construction, architecture, data, or production quality.

## Book A Pressure

- Refactoring should drive tasks where behavior-preserving structural change and current-smell scope control dominate.
- Evidence: `refactoring/refactoring.mini.md` lines 3-5: applies when changing existing code, preparing a feature/bug fix, reviewing cleanup, or reducing structural friction without changing observable behavior.

## Book B Pressure

- The Pragmatic Programmer should drive tasks where ownership, DRY knowledge, orthogonality, reversibility, tracer feedback, automation, and contracts dominate.
- Evidence: `the-pragmatic-programmer/the-pragmatic-programmer.mini.md` lines 3-5: applies as a general engineering operating style for accountable delivery, adaptability, fast feedback, and easy-to-change code.

## Complementary Forces

- Claim: Refactoring contributes behavior-preserving, small-step, test-backed refactoring pressure; The Pragmatic Programmer contributes ownership, DRY-knowledge, orthogonality, reversibility, tracer-feedback, automation, and contract pressure. Together they are useful only where both scopes are active.
- Evidence:
  - `refactoring/refactoring.mini.md` lines 30-39: fires on structural friction before features, unclear bug code, absent tests, third duplication, mixed responsibilities, shotgun surgery, repeated conditionals, UI/domain mixing, patch intent mixing, and rewrite temptation.
  - `the-pragmatic-programmer/the-pragmatic-programmer.mini.md` lines 13-35: requires pragmatic non-dogmatic choices, ownership of risks, future maintenance awareness, one authoritative knowledge representation, orthogonality, reversible volatile decisions, useful domain vocabulary, tracer bullets, prototypes, real requirements, automation, feedback loops, explicit contracts/failure categories/resource ownership, plain text/open formats, visible shared state/async costs, understood tooling, fact-based debugging, small increments, communicative artifacts, team responsibility, and broken-window containment.

## Overlap

- Claim: They overlap where both affect safe existing-code change, tests, behavior preservation, ownership, and stopping before speculative cleanup; the overlap score reflects how often an agent would receive similar pressure from both.
- Evidence:
  - `refactoring/refactoring.mini.md` lines 43-49: checks behavior preservation, separated structural/behavior/test updates, safety net, real friction removed, clearer ownership/control/data/interfaces, reviewable runnable patch, and stopped cleanup.
  - `the-pragmatic-programmer/the-pragmatic-programmer.mini.md` lines 56-65: checks authoritative knowledge, independent concerns and reversible choices, feedback, accepted prototype/tool behavior, contracts/failures/resources, visible state/coupling, automation, relevant tests, communicative artifacts, and touched-area improvement/containment.

## Conflicts

- Claim: The tension is scope creep: design or architecture improvements must not override behavior preservation, characterization, or the current-smell stop condition.
- Evidence:
  - `refactoring/refactoring.mini.md` lines 7-9: corrects cleanup turning into rewrite, hidden feature change, or speculative architecture.
  - `the-pragmatic-programmer/the-pragmatic-programmer.mini.md` lines 7-9: corrects local-edit and ritual optimization by owning outcomes, reducing duplicated knowledge, keeping concerns independent, proving assumptions early, automating repeated work, and making intent clear.

## Use Together When

- Use together when existing code must be reshaped toward The Pragmatic Programmer goals without changing observable behavior or turning cleanup into redesign.

## Prefer One When

- Prefer the refactoring rule set when observable behavior must stay unchanged; prefer the other book when designing new behavior rather than reshaping existing structure.

## Source Basis

- `refactoring/refactoring.mini.md` lines 3-5: applies when changing existing code, preparing a feature/bug fix, reviewing cleanup, or reducing structural friction without changing observable behavior.
- `refactoring/refactoring.mini.md` lines 7-9: corrects cleanup turning into rewrite, hidden feature change, or speculative architecture.
- `refactoring/refactoring.mini.md` lines 30-39: fires on structural friction before features, unclear bug code, absent tests, third duplication, mixed responsibilities, shotgun surgery, repeated conditionals, UI/domain mixing, patch intent mixing, and rewrite temptation.
- `refactoring/refactoring.mini.md` lines 43-49: checks behavior preservation, separated structural/behavior/test updates, safety net, real friction removed, clearer ownership/control/data/interfaces, reviewable runnable patch, and stopped cleanup.
- `the-pragmatic-programmer/the-pragmatic-programmer.mini.md` lines 3-5: applies as a general engineering operating style for accountable delivery, adaptability, fast feedback, and easy-to-change code.
- `the-pragmatic-programmer/the-pragmatic-programmer.mini.md` lines 7-9: corrects local-edit and ritual optimization by owning outcomes, reducing duplicated knowledge, keeping concerns independent, proving assumptions early, automating repeated work, and making intent clear.
- `the-pragmatic-programmer/the-pragmatic-programmer.mini.md` lines 13-35: requires pragmatic non-dogmatic choices, ownership of risks, future maintenance awareness, one authoritative knowledge representation, orthogonality, reversible volatile decisions, useful domain vocabulary, tracer bullets, prototypes, real requirements, automation, feedback loops, explicit contracts/failure categories/resource ownership, plain text/open formats, visible shared state/async costs, understood tooling, fact-based debugging, small increments, communicative artifacts, team responsibility, and broken-window containment.
- `the-pragmatic-programmer/the-pragmatic-programmer.mini.md` lines 56-65: checks authoritative knowledge, independent concerns and reversible choices, feedback, accepted prototype/tool behavior, contracts/failures/resources, visible state/coupling, automation, relevant tests, communicative artifacts, and touched-area improvement/containment.

## Review Notes

- External context was not used as decisive evidence for Refactoring vs The Pragmatic Programmer; the verdict is based on the cited local `mini` line ranges.
