An industrial study on the importance of software component documentation: A system integrator's perspective

Component integration is widely recognized as a process which plays a central role in overall Component Based System (CBS) development. A system integrator focuses on assembling existing components, developed by different parties, to build a software system. The integration process usually involves adapting existing component interfaces and writing new functions to handle the mismatches between stakeholder needs and available component features. The lack of detailed component documentation has been a key area of concern in CBS development due to its profound impact on the integration phase of a CBS development life cycle. In this paper, we report results of an industrial survey conducted among system integrators to understand role of component documentation in the CBS integration phase. The survey investigates whether the presence of component documentation helps a system integrator and its correlations with typical CBS integration success factors. The result reinforces current perceptions of the significance of component documentation in CBS integration. However, the lack of comprehensive component documentation presents a potential risk for a system integrator during integration effort estimation and testing processes.