A computer-implemented method for migrating a monolithic legacy software system to a well-defined modular target software architecture includes selecting a method, based on predefined patterns, for transforming the software legacy software system; creating an abstract syntax tree from the legacy software system's source code; from the abstract syntax tree, determining a flow of the source code and any coding violations and coding smells in the legacy software system's source code; using the flow and the coding violations, identifying architecture issues in the legacy software system; scheduling tasks for transforming the legacy software system into the target software architecture; automatically generating new source code according to the target software architecture; and automatically and autonomously refactoring the new source code.