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1993-10-19
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101 lines
Software Reuse: Ma jor Issues Need to Be Resolved Before Benefits
Can Be Achieved
David Chao
U.S. General Accounting Office
441 G Street, N.W.
Techworld - Room 9715
Washington, DC 20548
Tel: 202-512-6354
Email: chaod@source.asset.com OR cvy@cu.nih.com
Fax: 202-512-6450
Abstract
On February 7, 1992 the Chairman of the Subcommitte on Defense, House Appropriations
Committee, requested that we provide background information on software reuse, including an
overview of issues that can inhibit effective software reuse,and information on Defense's strategy
to implement a departmentwide software reuse program.
Keywords: Reuse inhibitors, US Government, General Accounting Office
Workshop Goals: To keep abreastof state of the art and state of the practice in software
reuse
Working Groups: Reuse management, organization, and economics.
Chao- 1
1 Position
Developing and maintaining software in organizations such as the Department of Defense is very
costly. According to many exp erts in the software community, software reuse is a possible solu-
tion to reduce these costs, as well as to increase software productivityand reliability. Although
these benefits and savings are compelling, achieving them will require the resolution of significant
technical, organizational, and legal issues.
Even while proclaiming the potential of reuse, many software experts have questioned the maturity
of software reuse. These experts indicate that the methodologies to implement reuse have not
been fully developed, tools to support a reuse process are lacking, and standards to guide critical
software reuse activities have not b een established.
Beyond such technical difficulties,organizations also face numerous challenges to effectively imple-
ment and practice reuse. An organization must make a significant commitment to reuse because
fundamental changes in the organization's software development approach will be needed and sig-
nificant up-front costs for training and tools will be required. Further, uncertainties in legal policies,
such as liability and intellectual property rights that currently hinder software reuse, need to be
addressed, and acquisition policies need to be modified to better promote reuse.
Additional information regarding these results can be found in: GAO Report: GAO/IMTEC-93-
16. Software Reuse - Major Issues Need to Be Resolved Before Benefits Can Be Achieved, January
1993.
2 Biography
David Chao is a Senior Technical Advisor with the Accounting and Information Management
Division of the General Accounting Office. He is currently involved in the follow-on review of
DoD's strategy to implement software reuse and the effectiveness of its approach. In addition,
he was involved in the review of DoD's Integrated- Computer Aided Software Engineering (I-
CASE) procurement, which a report was published in June 1993. Previously, he has held software
Engineering positions with Texas Instruments Incorporated and McDonnell Douglas Corporation,
in the design and development of business and scientific applications.
Chao- 2