Ingeniería

FliiiW HEWLETT
~~ PACKARD
Software Reuse:
From Library to Factory
Martin L. Griss
Software Technology Laboratory
HPL-93-67
July, 1993
reuse research,
process, methods,
technology,
organization,
flexible software
factory, domainspecific
reuse kits
Systematic software reuse is a key business strategy
that software managers can employ to dramatically
improve their softwaredevelopment processes, to
decrease time-to-market and costs, and to improve
product quality. Effective reuse requires much more
than just code and library technology. We have
learned that careful consideration must be given to
people, process and technology. One approach to the
systematic integration of these three elements is the
concept of the software factory. At Hewlett-Packard,
we haveinitiated a multi-faceted Corporate Reuse
Program to help introduce systematic reuse bestpractices
into the company, complemented by multidisciplinary
research to investigate and develop better
methods for domain-specific, reuse-based software
engineering. Key aspects include domain-specific
kits, business modeling, organization design, and
technology infrastructure for a flexible softwarefactory.
To be published in the IBM Systems Journal, (approximately) August, 1993
© Copyright Hewlett-Packard Company 1993
Internal Accession Date Only
1 Introduction
The phrase "software crisis" was first used in 1969 to describe the ever increasing burden and
frustration that software development and maintenance have placed on otherwise happy and
productive organizations. Since then, managershave been looking for effective strategies to
deal with software. Manufacturers of computer systems and instruments such as HewlettPackard
and IBM, whose business relied mostly on hardware and mechanical engineers,
today find that over 70% of their R&D engineers are engaged in software and firmware.
Maintenance and rework account for about 60% to 80% of total software costs. Systems
takelonger to produce than expected, and software is frequently on the critical path.
Among the many solutions proposed to address this "software crisis," the systematic application
of software reuse to prototyping, development, and maintenance is one of the
most effective ways to significantly improve the software process, shorten time-to-market,
. improve software quality and ar.plicationconsistency, and reduce development and maintenance
costs[BP89, Tra88, BB91 . While many companies are developing proprietary software
libraries, software reuse is not yet a major force in most corporate software development.
We believe that this is largely because effective reuse depends more on socioeconomic than
technical factors at this time[Cox90a, Aha91], while most users still concentrate onlibrary
or language technology.
In this paper I describe how Hewlett-Packard is directing its efforts to better understand
these issues and implement solutions to systematically improve and expand its reuse practice.
In the following sections I highlight the business issues, the growing need for flexibility and
a more engineered approach to software. I summarize the status and promise ofreuse,
stressing the integration of improved process, management and technology. The library
metaphor and model, used for many years to guide work in reuse, needs to be replaced
by a software engineering model based on kits, factories, manufacturing and engineering.
Software engineers and managers need to change their view of software reuse from that of
simply accessing parts in a softwarelibrary, to that of systematically developing and using
well-designed parts following a careful process within a reuse-based software factory.
2 Business Issues Facing Software Managers
This intolerable software situation is due in part to our very success in designing increasingly
complex and powerful computer hardware using integrated circuits and sophisticated CAD
and simulation tools, and to...