SAS Workshops

Maintaining and evolving existing code can feel risky and overwhelming, especially when you didn’t write it. Maybe you’ve inherited a system you’re afraid to touch, need to add features the architecture doesn’t support, or must adapt to new hardware and changing assumptions. Every change seems to break something, the code is hard to understand, and even small improvements take far longer than they should. You know big changes are needed, but rewriting everything feels too dangerous and expensive.

This course is designed for developers facing exactly these challenges. Instead of risky rewrites or endless hesitation, you’ll learn a methodical, low-risk approach to changing code safely and confidently. The focus is on taking small, incremental steps that keep systems working while steadily improving them. You’ll learn how to break large, intimidating problems into manageable pieces and how to make progress even when the design isn’t ideal.

Testing plays a central role in lowering risk. You’ll learn how to use tests to protect existing behavior, how to test code that seems hard or impossible to test, and when it’s reasonable to refactor without tests. The course ties common code smells to specific refactoring techniques, helping you recognize improvement opportunities and move toward better designs over time. You’ll also learn how to leverage existing IDE tools and apply these techniques to class-based, object-oriented code.

By the end of this course, you will:

• Feel confident making changes to existing code

• Reduce the risk of breaking systems during development

• Move faster without needing perfect designs up front

• Better handle uncertainty and changing requirements

• Develop transferable refactoring and design skills

• Deliver new features more quickly and safely

With plenty of hands-on practice, this course helps you regain momentum and take control of slowing, fragile systems one safe step at a time.