Code reuse

Code reuse is the practice of using existing source code to develop software instead of writing new code. Software reuse is a broader term that implies using any existing software asset to develop software instead of developing it again.: 7  An asset that is relatively easy to reuse and offers significant value is considered to have high reusability.

Code reuse may be achieved different ways depending on a complexity of a programming language chosen and range from a lower-level approaches like code copy-pasting (e.g. via snippets), simple functions (procedures or subroutines) or a bunch of objects or functions organized into modules (e.g. libraries): 7  or custom namespaces, and packages, frameworks or software suites in higher-levels.

Code reuse implies dependencies which can make code maintainability harder. At least one study found that code reuse at the class level reduces technical debt.

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