Refactoring of existing code

Refactoring code can be nerve-racking. Removing, rewriting, and reshuffling. How do you know it is still doing the job it used to? Does it not break anything else? It certainly needs to be tested. But, when manually done, it is often executed after the whole refactoring is ready. That might be already too late, as too many pieces got broken. Grant yourself peace of mind and start, before any refactoring, by getting an automated test suite in place for this code to prove its validity. With every refactor step you take, run the damn suite. And again. This way, refactoring becomes fun.