Among proponents of object technology, there is intellectual momentum to maximize class reusability. The logical attraction to class reusability encourages object-oriented developers from one functional application to share class libraries with developers from other functional applications. This form of guerrilla reusability often arises as an informal bottom-up process. While positive in intention, guerrilla reusability can only be effective on a small scale and therefore will only yield incremental benefits. Enterprise-wide benefits will come when the process of reusing classes is formalized as an objective of a management sanctioned strategic plan that embraces Class-Based Engineering.
CBE structurally architects enterprise-wide reusability in tandem with the organization's evolving Strategic Object Model. The model defines the collaborative circuitry that inter-links classes. The model also structures the relationships between class-teams. In so doing, reusability becomes a contractual relationship between requester and service provider. Accountability and service level performance levels are negotiated and formalized.
Although there are theoretical precedents, especially from chaos theory, that claims that through natural selection, guerrilla reusability may ultimately yield the better solution, organizations must nevertheless control the funding, development, deployment and production support of it's mission critical objects. At the same time, however, Class-Based organizations must encourage the creative cross-pollination of new ideas that will percolate in an open-model environment. It is the controlled acceptance and utilization of these ideas that is encouraged by the Class-Based organization.
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