Applying knowledge modelling and case-based reasoning to software reuse

The users of libraries of object-oriented software components face both a terminological and a cognitive gap in knowledge. Usually, library users do not understand the vocabulary used in library documentation, and they do not know some of the concepts involved in the solutions implemented by components. In order to close both gaps, a language for constructing functional descriptions of the components is defined allowing users to specify their needs. From this language, mappings among functional descriptions and components as a case base collecting `interesting experiences´ in the usage of the library are implemented. A knowledge representation system, based on description logics, is used to construct the description language and to implement the case-based reasoning processes. This approach has been applied to support the reuse of classes implementing data structures in the VisualWorks class library, a Smalltalk programming environment