There are few well-defined sets of criteria for evaluating software component reusability that have been commonly agreed upon in the reuse community. One possible set could be the 21 characteristics defined in ISO/IEC 9126 Annex A [#!ISO91!#]. This set was originaly defined for evaluating software quality from viewpoints such as functionality, reliability, usability, efficiency, maintainability and portability. Since the ISO 9126 is a criteria which is used for evaluating software quality, it should be helpful for finding relationships between the reusability of given components when reviewed from the viewpoint of quality. This is the hypothesis we have taken as our position.
HO: The ISO 9126 could be used as a criterion for evaluating the reusability of software components.
The REBOOT criteria for software reusability might be another candidate which could be used for this evaluation purpose [#!dM92!#]. Metrics defined in the REBOOT might be of help in measuring each criterion quantitatively. The REBOOT criteria, however, have not yet widely been recognized as standards at the international level.