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Ten steps towards systematic requirements reuse

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Abstract

Reusability is widely suggested to be a key to improving software development productivity and quality [1,2]. It has been further argued that reuse at the requirements level can significantly increase reuse at the later stages of development [3,4]. However, there is little evidence in the literature to suggest that requirements reuse is widely practised. This paper describes ten practical steps towards systematic requirements reuse based on work at the Rolls-Royce Systems and Software University Technology Centre (UTC) for Rolls-Smiths Engine Controls Ltd (RoSEC) in the domain of aero-engine control systems. We believe these steps have made a significant overall contribution to the 50% reuse figure quoted by the management at RoSEC for current projects within the BR700 family of engine controllers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre, Department of Computer Science, The University of York, York, UK

    J. A. McDermid & A. J. Vickers

  2. Department of Computer Science, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, AL10 9AB, Hatfield, Herts, UK

    W. Lam

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  1. W. Lam
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  2. J. A. McDermid
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  3. A. J. Vickers
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Correspondence to W. Lam.

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Lam, W., McDermid, J.A. & Vickers, A.J. Ten steps towards systematic requirements reuse. Requirements Eng 2, 102–113 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02813029

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