Selected Topics in

Computer Science
Chapter 4 The Re-
engineering and Reuse of
Software
Definitions
 Re-engineering
 The combination of reverse engineering
and forward engineering
 The concept of “redoing” a software system

 Reuse
 Using a given piece of software to solve
more than one problem
 Reverse engineering
 The tools and methods used to understand
software
 Figuring out a software system for potential
redeployment
Introduction
 Software re-engineering and reuse are
concerned with maximizing software
usage for any given development
effort
 Both are used to maximize profit
and minimize turnaround time
 Software re-engineering and reuse also
help minimize staff
 The more code you can reuse the
less code you have to write and
rewrite
Introduction (cont)
 Reuse not only applies to using a piece
of software:
 Reuse designs and ideas thrown out
during design phase
 May have use in other applications
 Reverse engineering and reuse can
help recover lost investment
 Time has already been placed into
designing it the first time around.
Historical Background - Reuse
 Reuse dates back to sharing of algorithms
through publications
 Reuse of high level language and packages
 Textbook publications
 Use of macros and similar assembly
instructions
 Subroutine entry and exit
 For loops, if blocks, arithmetic
 Reuse associated with flexibility
 Parameterization

 Build scripts
Historical Background
- Re-engineering
 Flow-charting tools have been around for
awhile
 Now evolved into UML and sequence
diagrams
 Cross reference listings of variables
 Helps understand large pieces of software
 Originally designed to help maintain COBOL
legacy systems around 1980s
Implementations – Reuse
 Integration into lifecycle
 Building phase to construct the reusable
components into a library
 Incorporating those reusable components
into the building of a software system
 Time required to account for integration
issues
 Design for “plug and play”
 Which components comes from domain analysis
 File Input/Output component not needed for
a system that won’t write to disk
Implementations – Reuse
Component based
 Give clear descriptions and classifications
 Avoid over generalization
 Map instead of tree
 Object oriented programming lends itself to
reuse
 Objects are often in reusable component
form
 Inheritance provides contexts for reuse
Sorted Map inherits from Map
 Size or granularity
Implementations – Reuse
 Reuse in design
 Component or components could fulfill
a requirement based on specifications
 If multiple components are used then
requirements must be broken down
further
 Logging utility = Time utility + Format utility
+ File utility + Process input utility
 Identification,evaluation, modification,
and integration
 White-box reuse
 Reuse with simple modifications of code
Implementations – Reuse
 MIL – Module Interconnection Languages –
Prieto-Diaz, et. al (1986)
 Going beyond procedure calls in code
 Helps in system building another higher
language
 Design with reuse involves transforming
the outputs of one components to the
inputs of another
Implementations – Re-
engineering
 Reverse engineering involves abstracting the
current system and revealing the nature of
the system
 Describe the system to a non technical
person
 Documentation of class methods and
members could be used during the process
 Outlining tools and sequence diagrams
have been in use for many decades
Implementations – Re-
engineering
 Use of formal transformations
 Gather details about an efficient algorithm
that may be difficult to understand
 Use of wide spectrum language - Ward
 An interactive system to abstract details of
implementation into Z language and
implement Z language in code language of
choice
Implementations – Re-
engineering
 Use of reverse engineering back to
specifications – Lano, et. al
 Used to reverse engineer COBOL applications
 Using good coding practices helps the re-
engineering process
 Self documenting code
 Knowledge of higher level domain
concepts helps re-engineering
 Knowing for what purpose the software
system was used
Implementations – Re-
engineering
 Using design patterns in code
 Helps to know the purpose for a
software system and helps the forward
process by knowing how to build the
system
 Object-oriented programming facilitates
the reverse-engineering process
 Components of the high level systems
share the names of the objects
Implementations – Domain
Analysis
 Identify the major concepts and the
relationships between the concepts
 Usage of components is determined by
the domain in which they will be used
 Determine if components needed have
already been built
 Helps guide the production of
components for better reuse
 Adequate domain models help scope the
components and their usage
Challenges of Re-
engineering and Reuse
 Personnel issues
 “Why buy when you can build?”
 Reuse doesn’t always mean buying
 Contrast to electronic engineering
 Build your own microprocessor?
 Payoff issues
 Rewarding someone for building a reusable
component by royalties?
Challenges of Re-
engineering and Reuse
 Economical issues
 Payoff occurs after component production
 Most companies are geared towards producing a
system
 Gain another contract and reduce turnaround
time from reuse
 Accounting treats software as consumable and not
capital
 Concept of making software reusable capital like
a desk
 Legal issues
 Protection against physical piracy and intellectual
piracy
 Use of proprietary software remedies certain issues
Conclusions
 Software reuse, re-engineering, and
reverse engineering are cutting-edge
methodologies
 Product Line and Battle Command Product
Line
 Technology has caught up to these
practices
 UML
 There is a future in adding reuse to the
software lifecycle
 Economic gains must be established