Reusability measure of DEVS simulation models in DEVSim++ environment

This paper deals with reusability of the DEVS (discrete event systems specification) models in the hierarchical models development framework within an object-oriented simulation environment, called DEVSim++. The DEVSim++ environment supports models reusability in two dimensions during models development. One way of reusability is achieved from the hierarchical model construction technology from the DEVS formalism and the other from the inheritance mechanism from the underlying object-oriented environment. This paper proposes a set of metrics to measure both hierarchical reuse and inheritance reuse of DEVS models developed in DEVSim++. It also suggests a set of guidelines to improve reusability. Empirical measurement of the proposed metrics shows that the guidelines improve reusability of DEVS simulation models in the DEVSim++ environment.