Reusability in computer programming is the measurement of the likelihood that a given unit of code can be successfully incorporated into another program. Computer programming languages offer varying degrees of reusability. In structured programming languages, programmers develop code libraries that contain frequently used routines, such as those related to opening a window and displaying it on the screen. To make use of a library routine, the programmer writes a statement that calls the routine.
Although this procedure sounds simple in practice, the programmer must know a great deal about the routine and must call the routine according to the routine’s precise (and often complex) rules. See library, library routine, object, object-oriented programming, structured programming.
Technipages Explains Reusability
Reusability is the quality of a code being used in different platforms for multiple functions. The reusability of code is based on the programming philosophy, which emphasizes a programmer is not repeating himself. The philosophy justifies that every piece of knowledge must have a single unambiguous representation within a system. Reusability of code is possible by some features of codes, one of such features is Inheritance, which is all about a class being able to use the base class function and members, other methods are functions libraries.
Asides these, the existing code could be broken down into modules, the modules must be cohesive, i.e. the ability of two or more modules to work together. For the breaking into modules to work, the modules must be able to function independently.
For a code to be reusable, it means the code has been written in a well-structured way, easy to maintain and it is clean. It all comes down to the simplicity of code, that is, the ability of non-authors of native code to easily understand the properties of the written code.
Common Uses of Reusability
- The reusability of a code hinges on the ability of other programmers to be able to look at the code and understand it and its properties
- Reusability is the quality of a code being used in different platforms for multiple functions
- For reusability to work, a known method is known as modularization, wherein a code is broken into modules.
Common Misuses of Reusability
- When reusability is applied to code or program, it is compulsory that the code is a closed source programming
- For reusability to work, it is not compulsory the code is broken into modules