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Software reuse is the use of existing software or software knowledge to build new software. Ad hoc software reuse has been practiced from the earliest days of programming. Programmers have always reused sections of code, templates, functions, and procedures. Software reuse as a recognized area of study in software engineering, however, dates only from 1968 when Doug McIlroy of Bell Laboratories proposed basing the software industry on reusable components.
'''Code reuse''' or ''software reuse'' is the idea that a partial or complete [[computer program]] written at one time can be, should be, or is being used in another program written at a later time. The re-use of programming code is a common technique which attempts to save time and energy by reducing redundant work. ▼
Reusable software or software knowledge items are called reusable assets. Assets may be designs, requirements, test cases, architectures, etc.
▲Perhaps the most well known reusable asset is code. '''Code reuse'''
A very common example of code reuse is the technique of using a [[Library (computer science)|software library]]. Many common operations, such as converting information among different well-known formats, accessing external storage, interfacing with external programs, or manipulating information (numbers, words, names, locations, dates, etc.) in common ways, are needed by many different programs. Authors of new programs can use the code in the software library to accomplish these tasks, instead of "re-inventing the wheel" (by actually writing new code directly in the program to perform the operation). Library implementations often have the benefit of being well-tested and covering unusual or arcane cases. Disadvantages include the inability to tweak details which may affect performance or the desired output, and the time and cost of acquiring, learning, and configuring the library.
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