A retrieval technique for software components using directed replaceability similarity

A mechanism of retrieving software components is indispensable for component-based software development. However, conventional retrieval techniques require an additional description, and cannot evaluate the total characteristics of a component. In this paper, we propose a new similarity metric, "directed replaceability similarity" (DRS), which represents how two components differ in terms of structure, behavior, and granularity. We developed a retrieval system that automatically measures DRS between a user's prototype component and components stored in a repository, without any source codes or additional information. As a result of evaluation experiments, it is found that the retrieval performance of our system is higher than those of conventional techniques.