The document discusses refactoring code to improve its design without changing its external behavior. It defines refactoring as improving the code's internal structure to make it easier to understand and modify. The goals of refactoring are to remove duplication, simplify complex logic, clarify unclear code, and make the code easier to maintain without adding new functionality. It recommends refactoring when adding features, fixing bugs, or during code reviews. It also lists common "bad smells" in code and examples of refactoring techniques like extracting methods, moving methods, encapsulating fields, using interfaces, removing unused parameters, and replacing nested conditionals with guard clauses.