Lab 5 — Search-Based Refactoring

Goal

Treat refactoring selection or ordering as a small optimization problem.

Suggested setup

• candidate solution: 3–15 refactoring operations;
• objectives: choose 2–4 quality/cost measures;
• constraints: code must parse/compile; no duplicate invalid moves;
• algorithm: random search plus one heuristic/evolutionary method;
• repetitions: enough seeds to discuss variability.

Analysis

Compare the heuristic against random search. Inspect at least three high-scoring solutions for metric gaming or design damage.