code reuse

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Code reuse, also called software reuse, is the use of existing software, or software knowledge, to build new software, following the reusability principles.

Overview

Ad hoc code reuse has been practiced from the earliest days of programming. Programmers have always reused sections of code, templates, functions, and procedures.

Code reuse aims to save time and resources and reduce redundancy by taking advantage of assets that have already been created in some form within the software product development process. The key idea in reuse is that parts of a computer program written at one time can be or should be used in the construction of other programs written at a later time.

Code reuse implies the creation of a separately maintained version of the reusable assets. While code is the most common resource selected for reuse, other assets generated during the development cycle may offer opportunities for reuse: software components, test suites, designs, documentation, and so on.

Some characteristics that make software more easily reusable are modularity, loose coupling, high cohesion, information hiding and separation of concerns.

Some so-called code "reuse" involves simply copying some or all of the code from an existing program into a new one. While organizations can realize time to market benefits for a new product with this approach, they can subsequently be saddled with many of the same code duplication problems caused by cut and paste programming.

Many researchers have worked to make reuse faster, easier, more systematic, and an integral part of the normal process of programming. These are some of the main goals behind the invention of object-oriented programming, which became one of the most common forms of formalized reuse. A somewhat later invention is generic programming. Another, newer means is to use software "generators", programs which can create new programs of a certain type, based on a set of parameters that users choose. Fields of study about such systems are generative programming and metaprogramming.

Types of reuse

Concerning motivation and driving factors, reuse can be:

  • Opportunistic - While getting ready to begin a project, the team realizes that there are existing components that they can reuse.
  • Planned - A team strategically designs components so that they'll be reusable in future projects.

Reuse can be categorized further:

  • Internal reuse - A team reuses its own components. This may be a business decision, since the team may want to control a component critical to the project.
  • External reuse - A team may choose to license a third-party component. Licensing a third-party component typically costs the team 1 to 20 percent of what it would cost to develop internally. The team must also consider the time it takes to find, learn and integrate the component.

Concerning form or structure of reuse, code can be:

  • Referenced - The client code contains a reference to reused code, and thus they have distinct life cycles and can have distinct versions.
  • Forked - The client code contains a local or private copy of the reused code, and thus they share a single life cycle and a single version.


Fork-reuse is often discouraged because it's a form of code duplication, which requires that every bug is corrected in each copy, and enhancements made to reused code need to be manually merged in every copy or they become out-of-date. However, fork-reuse can have benefits such as isolation, flexibility to change the reused code, easier packaging, deployment and version management.

Outside of computers

The whole concept of "code reuse" can also encompass applications outside of computing. For instance, reuse of text strings in general, such as naming things after people or other things, can basically reuse code to some extent.

See also