SAIP (Chapter 14 and 15) From One System To Many

Software re-use is a key concept to object-oriented system developments, and can go a long way to cut down on an organization's development costs in all phases of development, starting from architectural documentation to the reuse of code components. As Bass et al. points out, the extent of reuse varies greatly from reusing snippets of code as utilities to having a framework that requires minor plugins to become its own system.

According to the author, the building of a product line is best achieved by building on an already existing architecture and recognizing similarities and variations between the design of multiple systems. The organizational structure and culture also greatly influences the success of the product line as observed in the case of Celsuis Tech where middle management was completely supportive of the project plan in developing the project line.

The idea of a project line could definetely yield a high ROI, in cases where multiple systems are bound to be developed. However, in many situations people invest so much time into developing a product line or framework which never gets reused or quickly gets outdated. The time invested into making software reusable is a cost, and unless it produces an ROI, is not worth the hussle.