THE ROLE OF OPPORTUNISM IN THE SOFTWARE-DESIGN REUSE PROCESS

Software design involves translating a set of task requirements into a structured description of a computer program that will perform the ta sk. A software designer can use design schema, collaborative design kn owledge, or can reuse design artifacts, Very little has been done to i nclude reuse of design artifacts in the software development life cycl e. despite tremendous promises of reuse. As a result, this technique h as not seen widespread use, possibly due to a lack of cognitive unders tanding of the reuse process. This research explores the role of a spe cific cognitive aspect, opportunism in demand-side software reuse. We propose a cognitive model based on opportunism that describes the soft ware design process with reuse. Protocol analysis verifies that the so ftware design with reuse is indeed opportunistic and reveals that some software designers employ certain tasks of the reuse process frequent ly. Based on these findings, we propose a reuse support system that in corporates blackboard technology and existing reuse library management system.