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Regression Testing and Refactoring Safety

publish date: 2026/06/24 21:27:37.280812 UTC

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How does an emphasis on regression testing in agile methods help reduce the risk of refactoring?

Regression testing eliminates the need to ever check whether refactored code still works

Regression testing automatically fixes any errors introduced during refactoring without human intervention

Regression testing is only relevant to hardware changes, not code refactoring

Errors introduced through refactoring should be detectable because previously successful tests would then fail

Correct Answer

Errors introduced through refactoring should be detectable because previously successful tests would then fail

Explanation

The strong emphasis on regression testing in agile methods lowers the risk of refactoring introducing new errors. If refactoring breaks something that previously worked, the previously successful regression tests should then fail, immediately alerting developers to the problem.

Reference

Software Engineering, Ian Sommerville, 10th edition

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