Current State of Component-Oriented Software Development Practice in Malaysia: Towards Identifying Its Potential and Research Areas

Problem statement: A study was conducted to investigate the current state of software development practice in Malaysia with regard to Component Oriented Software Development (COSD). The objectives of the study were to identify its potential application in Malaysia and to determine research areas that can be explored further to promote its application. Approach: Information required for the study was obtained through a survey, questionnaires were distributed to the software developers who are working at various software development companies in Malaysia. Software developers were generally divided into two categories; component users and non-component users. Information on current practices in software development, current practices of the component users, problems faced by the component users in applying COSD and reasons that hinder the non-component users from applying COSD was sought. Results: Results showed that current practice of software development in Malaysia is inclined towards software reuse, which is in line with the aim of COSD. Even though the component users face problems in applying COSD, they still believe that COSD is a better approach to develop software and majority of them will continue to apply COSD. The non-component users also believe that COSD is a better approach to develop software and majority of them will apply COSD in their future software development projects. Conclusion: Study concluded that the potential of COSD application amongst the software developers in Malaysia is high. List of COSD research areas formulated from the study can serve as a basis for the researchers to pursue research in this area that will further increase the potential.