Not all reusable components are reused at the same frequency. Some are very frequently reused, while the others somewhat less. What does this mean? For a given component, no reuse for a certain time period means perhaps that the component does not have enough versatility, with the more frequently reused component having more versatility. The reuse frequency is an index that can be used for evaluating the value of a reusable component, though the frequency itself does not mean the amount of money savings which the reuser can obtain at each reuse time.
If it is true that each component has its own reuse frequency, where does this frequency come from? Is it inherent to the component itself or to the characteristics of the reusers? Not enough surveys have been made for making judgements on what the major factors are that affect this frequency distribution.
There seem to be several factors which prevent software engineers from reusing software components, some of a managerial and some of a technical nature. The technical factors must be at least three-fold: factors pertaining to the component itself, factors pertaining to the reusers of the component, and factors pertaining to the environment in which the component is reused. This time survey focused on the component factor, while the other factors need further preliminary investigation before surveys can be started. The primary aim of this time survey was to find relationships between characteristics and reusability (reuse frequency) for a given component.