A soft computing based approach to estimate reusability of software components

Abstract

Component-based development (CBD) is the process of assembling existing software components in an application such that they satisfy a predefined functionality. Reduced development time, effort and cost are few merits of CBD. As components are black-box, therefore the use of conventional metrics in CBD is difficult, because these metrics needs analysis of source codes. To assess the reuse of component, it is important to estimate reusability of these components. Present paper discusses reusability in relation to CBD and proposes a reusability metrics for black box components. It identifies the factors affecting reusability of the components and establishes relationship in between these factors and reusability. Fuzzy logic based approach is used to estimate reusability and results found on real time applications are quite satisfactory. The proposed approach can be used by the application developers to select highly reusable components in the systems which will eventually help in maintaining the system in a better way.

Comparative Analysis of Software Components Reusability Level using GFS and ANFIS Soft-Computing Techniques

“…It was submitted that using a greater number of components may produce better results/accuracy for the training and testing. [11] discussed reusability in relation to Component-Based Development (CBD) and proposes a reusability metrics for black-box components. It identifies factors affecting reusability as: customisability, interface complexity, portability, and document quality.…”

“…have taken the lead due to their power of predictability [10][11][4][7]. This work investigates the works of [10], [11], [4] and [7], who all adopted soft-computing approach to predict reusability of software component, but with varying degree of accuracy…”

Analyzing the Influence of Various Fuzzification Methods in the Evaluation of Netbeans Java Components’ Interface Complexity for Reusability

“…That is, interface acts as the means through which application and components interact. Sagar et al (2010) submitted that, interface plays a lead role while measuring the overall complexity of the component. Sharma et al (2008) said complex interfaces will lead to high efforts for understanding and customizing of components; therefore for better reusability, interface complexity should be as low as possible.…”

Applying Neuro-fuzzy Approach to build the Reusability Assessment Framework across Software Component Releases - An Empirical Evaluation

“…Mili et al [16] considered two aspects, reusability and usefulness while REBOOT (Reuse Based on Object-Oriented Techniques) [22] considered factors namely portability, flexibility, understandability and confidence to assess the reusability. Sagar et al [19] used fuzzy logic to predict the reusability of component based system. Boetticher and Eichmann [9] considered factors namely adaptability, complexity and coupling and applied neural network based approach for measuring reusability of black box Ada components.…”