Important Questions & Answers

1 - Can you send us an offer?

Yes, but: Before every offer, we initially analyze the code base. This enables us to identify the main issues and, based on this, to estimate the development costs. We ensure complete confidentiality. You may upload your code directly or contact us for a demo, and if there's mutual interest, we will conduct a code review. The results of this review will lead to an offer.

2 - How is code quality ensured?

First and foremost are comprehensively defined tests, which guarantee functionality. Second, the expertise we use for refactoring is just as important. Professionals know the pitfalls and best practices in refactoring. Third, a comprehensive quality assurance process ensures the high-quality revision of the code between artificial intelligence and human expertise.

In addition, there are continuous reviews, tests and the use of the latest technologies we adapt from our research partners. This enables us to offer outstanding code quality. Talk to us about code quality.

3 - Why refactor instead of starting over?

Development teams often demand a fresh start as code maintenance and expansion become increasingly cumbersome. The air is out and the chaos is huge, the green field attracts.

However, a new project usually ties up important internal resources. You start with the risk of managing a new project. And the changes can affect operational processes, which are often expensive to adapt and require change management.

When refactoring (with REFACT), you get a clean, updated code base without operational changes and without project management. We take your developers along and transparently show them our changes.

4 - When is the right time to refactor?

Refactorings often take place when a new feature needs to be added. Starting from a certain amount of code debt, however, it becomes increasingly important to clean up large parts or the entire system. In the long term, inefficiencies weigh too heavily.

Suitable times are, for example, before a major expansion or before scaling the system. It is also a good idea to complete a milestone, an upcoming release or the time before an audit. In the event of performance problems and error vulnerabilities, refactoring creates a clean basis. Clarity is also desirable before making code public.

Another important reason is the deployment of new employees or a new team: Instead of spending many months of training to understand an unsatisfactory code, understandable code can be expanded promptly. For companies whose code is insufficiently documented or former developers are difficult to reach, a focus on comprehensibility might be worthwhile.

5 - Why is human expertise still needed with AI?

Machine-trained algorithms help us to perform repetitive and standardized tasks efficiently. This enables REFACT to offer a competitive offer on the market and at the same time focus our energy on complex problems.

At the moment, AIs are primarily helping us with solution ideas and automation. However, cleanly reworking an entire code base, let alone a complex architecture, still requires a lot of progress.

If an AGI should come at some point, all software still has business-specific requirements, which must be clearly defined and optimized for the application: Our engineers analyze the architecture, define the optimization and provide the logic. They develop the best possible solutions that are understandable to people and optimized for stability, performance, scalability or maintainability. A dedicated team ensures the quality requirements, with reviews and extensive testing.

6 - What is new about Human/AI Refactoring?

You can commission your complex, high-risk code to an external company. We take on the risk by defining and optimizing tests against them. You get clean code without a change in the operating process.

Your productive team can focus on key features. No need to spend months or years refactoring — let your developers provide an estimate! We reduce your code debt without you having to coordinate your development teams on projects.

Our hybrid human/AI approach enables us to offer cost-effective offerings that are outstanding in quality. It is only through machine support that it is possible to revise extensive code bases in a meaningful way. As a result, we are significantly faster, have an eye on the entire architecture and ensure the highest quality. This is only possible thanks to our specialization in refactoring.

7 - How long does a typical refactoring project take?

The duration of a refactoring depends heavily on the size and complexity of the code base. Other key factors include the state of the code, the existence of tests, and specific requirements for the necessary changes. As a rough guideline for our projects, you can expect 3-6 months, although very large projects can take a year or longer. Talk to us if you are in a hurry. Iterative procedures, in which parts are optimized one after the other, are also possible.

8 - Can I implement new features or bug fixes during the refactoring process?

Yes, that is easily possible. Just let us know your plans. We'll see the commits in Git and merge your changes with ours. However, in order to keep the effort low, it is appropriate to make major changes before or after refactoring.

9 - What impact does refactoring have on my existing operations?

In a nutshell, the result is better maintenance (less cumbersome workarounds) and more focus on feature development. You can expect significant efficiency increases (quantify it by calculating the ROI). Additionaly, your support team can probably provide more customer-friendly (more timely) answers to bug fixing and feature requests.

There is no change in user processes, as we consistently focus on test-based development. Continuity in input and output is guaranteed, unless there are requests for changes, which we make on a limited basis. (We don't develop new features, even though we can develop software).

10 - Does REFACT offer support after the project is done?

We guarantee 12 months of free troubleshooting on our changes (there are limitations to our liability according to the legal terms).

If you book it, we offer workshops for your employees and team colleagues to get started quickly.

It is also possible to integrate a refactoring and clean code expert from our team as a coach into your team. This can help to maintain high quality until certain practices are established. Without an internal expert, we recommend repeating the code review after about one year (depending on the appropriate changes).

Our team can provide you with competent support on the basis of a support retainer contract.

11 - How do you ensure that our code is handled securely?

We do NOT train our LLMs with your code. There is no incentive for us to use unoptimized code in training. An NDA ensures that we will not use your code in any other setting - without an expiration date.

REFACT's infrastructure is hosted by Microsoft in the Azure Cloud. The security and protection measures of our partners apply. Our employees are only given protected access to the parts that are relevant to them.

If you have specific requirements, please do not hesitate to discuss them with us. We do everything possible to ensure your security.