As developers, we all know that over time, our code can become unwieldy and hard to manage. What starts as a simple and clean solution can quickly evolve into a complex beast, especially in dynamic and feature-rich applications. Recently, I faced such a challenge with a Laravel application where the schedule management component, specifically the ScheduleTable class, had grown too large and complex to maintain effectively. This blog post chronicles the journey of refactoring this component to adhere to the SOLID principles, improving its maintainability and scalability.
The Problem: A Bloated Schedule Management Class
The ScheduleTable class had grown significantly over time as new features were added. It was responsible for everything: loading schedules, generating time slots, checking for scheduling conflicts, and even handling the user interface logic. This violated several SOLID principles, particularly the Single Responsibility Principle (SRP). As a result, the class became difficult to manage, test, and extend.
In addition, there was code duplication between the ScheduleTable and the newly implemented PrintScheduleController. Both classes were performing similar operations to load and display schedules, which increased the risk of bugs and inconsistencies.
The Solution: Refactoring with Service Classes
To address these issues, the decision was made to refactor the codebase using service classes that encapsulate specific responsibilities. This refactor not only cleaned up the existing code but also laid a solid foundation for future development.
1. Introducing the ScheduleService Class
The first step was to extract the schedule management logic into a dedicated service class called ScheduleService. This class is now responsible for:
- Loading schedules for a given classroom.
- Generating time slots based on start and end times, including handling breaks.
- Checking if a time slot overlaps with any recess periods.
By centralizing these responsibilities, ScheduleService became a reusable component that could be used across different parts of the application, including both the ScheduleTable and PrintScheduleController.
2. Implementing the ScheduleClashChecker Class
The next step was to address the complexity of checking for scheduling conflicts. Previously, the ScheduleTable class handled this logic, making it difficult to modify or extend. By moving this responsibility to a ScheduleClashChecker class, we achieved better separation of concerns.
The ScheduleClashChecker class is now responsible for:
- Checking for conflicts between schedule items, such as overlapping times for the same teacher.
- Verifying that subjects are scheduled within their allowed time constraints.
This refactor made it easier to maintain the conflict-checking logic, as it is now isolated from the rest of the schedule management functionality.
3. Cleaning Up the Blade Views
With the backend refactor complete, attention was turned to the Blade views. These views were updated to make better use of the refactored service classes. Additionally, enhancements were made to improve the user experience:
- Teacher selection now displays the associated subjects’ short codes, making it easier for users to select the correct teacher.
- Efforts were made to support features like merging table cells in the schedule view and drag-and-drop functionality for schedule items. While some implementations were rolled back due to complexity, these changes paved the way for future enhancements.
4. Protecting Sensitive Routes with Middleware
As part of the overall application improvement, sensitive routes, such as the dashboard, profile, and settings pages, were protected with authentication middleware. This ensures that only authorized users can access these critical parts of the application, enhancing security.
The Results: A More Maintainable and Scalable Application
After completing these refactors, the ScheduleTable class is now much leaner and easier to work with. The code is more modular, adheres to SOLID principles, and is easier to test and extend. Additionally, the risk of bugs and inconsistencies has been reduced by centralizing common logic in service classes.
The refactor also improved the user experience by providing more informative interfaces and laying the groundwork for future enhancements, such as better drag-and-drop functionality and cell merging in the schedule view.
Conclusion
Refactoring can be a daunting task, especially when dealing with a complex and growing codebase. However, by adhering to SOLID principles and using service classes to encapsulate specific responsibilities, you can transform a bloated and difficult-to-maintain class into a clean, modular, and scalable component. This refactor not only improved the maintainability of the Laravel application but also provided a better foundation for future development.
If you’re facing similar challenges in your codebase, consider taking a step back and refactoring your code to adhere to SOLID principles. Your future self—and your fellow developers—will thank you.
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