> I found a comment on Martin Fowler's personal web site claiming that Kent Beck coined the term "refactoring" in the mid-'90s, for example
No, I didn't. Sorry. I had read something similar in several other places, and when I did a search (since Fowler's site itself was blacked out) the resulting excerpt was truncated in a critical place that made it look like the above was true. Still, there are plenty of people who have claimed that the Agile movement originated ideas like refactoring in on-line forums and the like, so aside from setting the record straight regarding Fowler's site, my original point stands.
No, I didn't. Sorry. I had read something similar in several other places, and when I did a search (since Fowler's site itself was blacked out) the resulting excerpt was truncated in a critical place that made it look like the above was true. Still, there are plenty of people who have claimed that the Agile movement originated ideas like refactoring in on-line forums and the like, so aside from setting the record straight regarding Fowler's site, my original point stands.