Multi-objective programming approach to find the best set of software components in component-based software engineering

Abstract

Component-based software engineering (CBSE) is a process that focuses on the design, selection, assembly, and development of computer-based systems with the use of reusable software components. With the increasing popularity of this approach and the expanding pool of commercially accessible software components, choosing a suitable set of components to meet specific requirements while keeping costs minimal has become a challenging task. Essentially, our task involves choosing a group of components from a given set that can meet specific requirements while keeping the overall cost of these selected components to a minimum. This problem involves three objective functions; Maximize Bestseller Ratings, Download Ratings, and Review Ratings. Since Conventional methods are insufficient to solve such complex systems, we considered a multi-objective programming model to identify a cost-effective solution that simultaneously maximizes three objectives. In this analysis, we addressed the model individually for each objective, solving it three times and obtaining solutions of 15, 48, and 16 for each objective. Subsequently, we applied the proposed model, aiming to minimize the maximum deviation from the previously determined values. The resulting model provided an optimal solution that not only met all the specified maximum objective function values with a 0 % deviation but also highlighted the most significant set of software components. Certainly, using Excel Solver, we obtained a budget-friendly solution by identifying the optimal set of components that satisfy three user requirements. For future directions, the Multi-Objective Fuzzy approach can be extended by incorporating additional objectives and addressing more user requirements.