Dr. Adnan A. Rawashdeh

IT Department, Faculty of Science, Mutah University, Karak, Jordan
rawashdh@mautah.edu.

Several existing methods recognized in the literature of software reuse. Today’s organizations, which are shifting toward a systematic reuse strategy, face a major decision regarding the appropriate reuse method to be adopted. The choice is important because studies show that the cost of a little change made to a reusable component exponentially increases compared to its development from scratch. If an organization fails to choose the appropriate reuse method, the desired savings are compromised. Therefore, the need for an evaluation process to guide the decision is a must. This contribution attempts to overcome the problem by introducing a simple evaluation process supported by a powerful decision-making tool known as the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The evaluation is carried out on four selected reuse methods, namely components, patterns, applications, and frameworks; with respect to three quality characteristics, namely functionality, maintainability, and portability. The outcome of the evaluation has projected frameworks as a winner among the others. Of course, the process can be extended to accommodate a greater number of reuse methods with different characteristics such as cost, time, and effort.