Software Modules Clustering: An Effective Approach for Reusability

Abstract

Software modules reusability may play an unbeatable role to increase the software productivity. Code clones can be used one of the parameter for cluster formation of software modules. Cluster analysis is a scheme used for cataloging of data in which data elements are screened into groups called clusters that represent collections of data elements that are based on dissimilarities or similarities. The clustering approach is an important tool in decision making and an effective creativity technique in generating ideas and obtaining solutions. Software development and maintenance are big challenges in the market for survival of a software industry. This research gives an idea of reducing development time and efforts using clone detection and clustering process. Different types of methods have been applied in this research such as Hierarchical Clustering (HC) and Non-Hierarchical Clustering (NHC) for software modules classification. We have proved how this research is useful in software development and maintenance. The experiments have been done using 13 C++ programs.

Keywords: Lines of Code (LOC), Hierarchical Clustering Algorithm (HCA), Non-Hierarchical Clustering Algorithm (NHCA)