Reusability issues in component-based development

Abstract

Component-based development (CBD) advocates the acquisition, adaptation, and integration of reusable software components to rapidly develop and deploy complex software systems with minimum engineering effort and resource cost. Software reusability is an attribute that refers to the expected reuse potential of a software component. Software reuse not only improves productivity but also has a positive impact on the quality and maintainability of software products. The paper first discusses CBD and its associated challenges, and later outlines the issues concerning component reusability and its benefits in terms of cost and time-savings. Guidelines are presented to further assist software engineers in the development of reusable software products and to extract reusable components from existing software. Quality and productivity improvement activities within organisations adopting CBD can also benefit from the adoption of these guidelines.