Utility evaluation of a component model selection framework: A quantitative approach

Component model is a standard or specification used to produce software components. It is regarded as the cornerstone of any CBSD methodology and plays important role in determining its success. Advances in component based software development (CBSD) have resulted in the birth of many component models. The presence of many component models causes difficulty in determining suitable component model to be used in software development project. In an effort to overcome the difficulty, a component model selection (CMS) framework was developed. Using the CMS framework, software developers are able to specify the kinds of component models that they would like to have for their software development project and the CMS framework will recommend suitable component model(s) to be used based on the specifications. A prototype of the CMS framework was also developed. Using the prototype, utility evaluation of the CMS framework from the perspective of its potential users was performed. This paper presents the utility evaluation process and its outcome. Evaluation result shows that the CMS framework enables systematic component model selection and is able to expose more component models to its potential users in the software development industry.