Lowering the Barrier to Reuse through Test-Driven Search

TL;DR

This paper discusses enhancing software reuse by integrating user-friendly, non-intrusive search environments with test-driven approaches to improve component evaluation and testing.

Contribution

It proposes a novel approach to lower the barrier for software reuse by combining search engines with test-driven environments for easier component evaluation.

Findings

Improved ease of evaluating software components.

Enhanced integration of search and testing environments.

Potential reduction in reuse-related risks and costs.

Abstract

Dedicated software search engines that index open source software repositories or in-house software assets significantly enhance the chance of finding software components suitable for reuse. However, they still leave the work of evaluating and testing components to the developer. To significantly change the risk-cost-benefit tradeoff involved in software reuse, search engines need to be supported by user friendly environments that deliver code search functionality non-intrusively right to developers' fingertips.