Quantifying reusability of software components using hybrid fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP)-Metrics approach

The role of reusability cannot be neglected in the software component selection since it determines the worth of a component for its potential (re)use. The reusability is a qualitative feature and it is arduous to measure it directly. Typically, it is assessed subjectively without paying much heed to the involvement of befitting stakeholders and the use of a quantitative approach. We aim to quantify the reusability of a software component based on its quality through multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) solution to rank alternatives. To do this, the quality preferences of stakeholders about the reuse of components are determined. The reusability is quantified using a hybrid fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) and quality metrics approach. In this approach, the weights of both FAHP and quality metrics are integrated to get the final ranking. FAHP-Metrics approach is applied to payment gateway (software) components, and the ranking of given components is obtained based on their reusability value. Finally, the comparative analysis of our results with respect to other recent studies reveals that the Spearman rank correlation result is highly significant and acceptable, and the obtained weights have a good association with other studies. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.