Re: Software reuse

[baynes@ukpsshp1.serigate.philips.nl (Stephen Baynes)]

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P. Cnudde VH14 (8218) (cnuddep@sh.bel.alcatel.be) wrote:
: Hello,

: First of all I want to say that the point of this mail is not
: to start endless Ada vs C/C++ discussions, but to have an open
: minded talk about Reuse and the influence of the language on reuse.

: A lot of people talk about reuse but does anybody have experience
: with a company wide reuse system. Not only different development
: teams but also different locations should be supported. 

comp.software-eng might be a more suitable group for this question
particually for case tool support for reuse.
and perhaps also comp.sw.components. There are probably general OO
groups too. I have not added them to the groups because you have already 
crossposted to 5 groups which is more than enough.

: I see the following topics:
: 1. Language independent:
: * Reuse database search methods
: * Distribution of reusable components to the engineer who reuses
: the component. (Source code or compiled version, function based or
: library based)

Depends on what you are trying to reuse and how. May need all of them.

: * Can everybody in de company develop reusable modules or should only
: one team make such functions

Generally it is recomended that your applications developers should be
different from your reusable library developers because they have different
and conflicting goals.

: * is it usefull to reuse really small functions (<5 lines of code) 
: or is the overhead to great. When is it usefull to think about reuse?

You will normally need some as part of any reusable library to give a
sutable level of abstraction. There can also be small functions which are
usefully reused on their stand alone value [Eg strlen]

: * What about the psychological problems (Not Invented Here)

We have a "Proudly found elsewhere award"!

: * Who responsible for the reusable functions (the originator or the user)?

The library maintainer.

: * How to avoid "Ariane-5" disasters? 


You have missed out a lot of reuse by concentrating on code reuse.
Specifications, architectures, algorithms all can be reusable.

: 2. Language dependent.
: * Language "Package-library" support. Is Ada here better ?
: * Object Orientation, does it really help for reuse?

Objects are a convenient packaging mechanism, not a wonder cure. Most of the
problems with reusing objects are the same as those for any reasonably well
structured code.

: * Generics, (or templates) is it needed, or can we have a reuse
: system without it?

Again a convenient mechanism for delivering one type of reuse.

: PS. Does anybody in comp.lang.vhdl tried real reuse using VHDL.
: (That's the language I am most interested in)

: Regards,


: -- 

:    ____________          Peter Cnudde
:    \          /          Alcatel Telecom
:     \ ALCATEL/           Switching Systems Division 
:      \ BELL /            Microelectronics Design Center
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:                          e-mail  : cnuddep@sh.bel.alcatel.be
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--
Stephen Baynes                              baynes@ukpsshp1.serigate.philips.nl
Philips Semiconductors Ltd
Southampton                                 My views are my own.
United Kingdom
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