Refactoring Example: findMonth() function from Webkit

gistfile1.cpp

// before refactoring
// returns 0-11 (Jan-Dec); -1 on failure
static int findMonth(const char* monthStr)
{
    ASSERT(monthStr);
    char needle[4];
    for (int i = 0; i < 3; ++i) {
        if (!*monthStr)
            return -1;
        needle[i] = static_cast<char>(toASCIILower(*monthStr++));
    }
    needle[3] = '\0';
    const char *haystack = "janfebmaraprmayjunjulaugsepoctnovdec";
    const char *str = strstr(haystack, needle);
    if (str) {
        int position = static_cast<int>(str - haystack);
        if (position % 3 == 0)
            return position / 3;
    }
    return -1;
}

// after refactoring
// returns 0-11 (Jan-Dec); -1 on failure
static int findMonth(const char* monthStr)
{
    ASSERT(monthStr);
    char needle[4];
    for (int i = 0; i < 3; ++i) {
        if (!*monthStr)
            return -1;
        needle[i] = static_cast<char>(toASCIILower(*monthStr++));
    }
    needle[3] = '\0';
    const std::string haystack = "janfebmaraprmayjunjulaugsepoctnovdec";
    std::string::size_type str_pos = haystack.find(needle);
    if (str_pos != std::string::npos) {
        int position = static_cast<int>(str_pos);   
        if (position % 3 == 0)
            return position / 3;
    }
    return -1;
}