Software reuse in Japan

Software reuse in Japan has been mainly carried on by mainframers as a means to develop effectively their business applications. Each of the Japanese mainframers has developed its own integrated software development environments that support software reuse as one of their major functionalities. Now that they have succeeded in reusing program code and design, they are trying to broaden the target of reuse to include software architectures. The importance of the managerial aspect of software reuse is now being understood. Some companies are putting much stress on the technology transfer issue of software reuse, and others are applying incentive systems to encourage software engineers who participate in software development. This paper outlines the current status of the research and practice of software reuse in Japanese industries and research organizations.