Towards an assessment framework of reuse: a knowledge-level analysis approach

The process of assessing the suitability of reuse of a software component is complex. Indeed, software systems are typically developed as an assembly of existing components. The complexity of the assessment process is due to lack of clarity on how to compare the cost of adaptation of an existing component versus the cost of developing it from scratch. Indeed, often pursuit of reuse can lead to excessive rework and adaptation, or developing suites of components that often get neglected. This paper is an important step towards modelling the complex reuse assessment process. To assess the success factors that can underpin reuse, we analyze the cognitive factors that belie developers’ behavior during their decision-making when attempting to reuse. This analysis is the first building block of a broader aim to synthesize a framework to institute activities during the software development lifecycle to support reuse.