[hinkley]

> code starting from the architectural and abstract goal

you are either using a different definition of architecture or this is wrong. Refactoring is bottom up construction. Most of the time when I see people frustrated or struggling (including myself) it's because they have forgotten this and need to take a break.

[systemvoltage]

I am using the standard architecture difinition.

More information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_refactoring

There are many goals in refactoring, specifically this section:

> Potential advantages of refactoring may include improved code readability and reduced complexity; these can improve the source code's maintainability and create a simpler, cleaner, or more expressive internal architecture or object model to improve extensibility. Another potential goal for refactoring is improved performance; software engineers face an ongoing challenge to write programs that perform faster or use less memory.

I was addressing OP's analogy to cutting pieces of written prose and rearranging.

[hinkley]

A bad paragraph does not get the point across because it is doing things in the wrong order, or taking to long to get there. Hoisting code can be removing repetition, performance... So many things. Rearranging or deleting code so that a piece is not trying to do three things at cross purposes, for one.

Code is meant to be read by humans and only incidentally by computers.

A lot of architecture is just being clear about what is intrinsic complexity and what is accidental, be it cognitive or computational.