Software Reuse

Abstract: Embedded systems are evolving from a one-supplier, one-hardware/software-black-box paradigm to one that supports separate suppliers for hardware, system software and individual applications. Trends toward increasing use of standards, incorporating prepackaged components and building product families from a single architecture are paving the way for widespread software reuse across organizational boundaries. However, the Reuse Library Interoperability Group, or RIG, offers products that address each of these problems both today and in the future. For programmers of embedded systems who desire or need to reuse software, RIG, in conjunction with the IEEE, offers several key solutions. RIG is a cooperative collection of organizations and individuals that identify, draft and propose standards for the interoperability of software-reuse libraries. Though libraries alone will not make possible the reuse of software, large-scale software reuse brings with it the need to sensibly describe and share software assets.