The Software Reuse Portal: A Case Study in Packaging Software to Contribute to Reuse Practices

The packaging of software assets can improve the possibility of software reuse. If a software asset is packaged with appropriate documentation and necessary resources to support its reuse, the software asset can be utilized more efficiently. Easily integrable software is, in turn, more likely to be shared with others and reused by the recipients. The NASA Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS) Software Reuse Working Group has developed a website to serve as a portal to support reuse practices within the Earth science community. In addition, the ESDS Software Reuse portal also serves as an example of software reuse practices, both as a recipient and as a contributor to reuse. The portal is built on reusable software and also has been offered as a reusable asset. As a recipient of reuse, the software reuse portal utilizes open source software and has been designed and developed using ideas received from members of the software reuse community who serve as members of the working group. As a contributor to reuse, the portal has been shared with other groups to assist in the design and development of websites to serve other communities. By packaging the software asset and collecting lessons learned from each reuse contribution, the working group improves capabilities for subsequent reuse recipients to reuse the portal and its features. In our case study, we describe (1) the packaging of software assets we consume and (2) how we successfully packaged software for reuse by others. We examine the components that can be packaged with a real software asset and how packaging can be improved to support reuse. Also, we will discuss the importance of passing on "lessons learned" to future consumers.