Software Reuse

Observers in the present usually have an advantage when it comes to interpreting events of the past. In the case of software reuse, how­ ever, it is unclear why an idea that has gained such universal accep­ tance was the source of swirling controversy when it began to be taken seriously by the software engineering community in the mid-1980's. From a purely conceptual point of view, the reuse of software de­ signs and components promises nearly risk-free benefits to the devel­ oper. Virtually