%0 Journal Article
%T Software Reuse: Developers¡¯ Experiences and Perceptions
%A William W. Agresti
%J Journal of Software Engineering and Applications
%P 48-58
%@ 1945-3124
%D 2011
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/jsea.2011.41006
%X Reusing programs and other artifacts has been shown to be an effective strategy for significant reduction of development costs. This article reports on a survey of 128 developers to explore their experiences and perceptions about using other people¡¯s code: to what extent does the ¡°not invented here¡± attitude exist? The survey was structured around a novel and simple ¡°4A¡± model, which is introduced in this article: for an organization to obtain any benefits from reusing code, four conditions must obtain: availability, awareness, accessibility, and acceptability. The greatest impediments to reuse were shown to be awareness of reusable code and developers¡¯ perceptions of its acceptability for use on their new projects. For 72% of developers, the complexity of the old code was cited as a reason that the code was not reused. The survey also included developers¡¯ suggestions for ways to take greater advantage of existing code and related artifacts.
%K Software Reuse
%K Survey
%K Software Development
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=3682