The construct of software reuse has been defined in several different ways.

Software reuse is idefined as "the process of creating software systems from existing software rather than building software systems from scratch [10]." Frakes distinguishes reuse from porting by noting that, while porting involves moving an entire system from one platform or environment to another, reuse involves using an asset in an entirely different system, regardless of the environment or platform [7].

Software reuse has also been defined as "the use of existing software knowledge or artifacts to build new software artifacts." [6]

However, the best definition of software reuse has been developed by Prieto-Diaz [4], who defines reuse as:

"Reuse is the use of previously acquired concepts or objects in a new situation, it involves encoding development information at different levels of abstration, storing this representation for future reference, matching of new and old situations, duplication of already developed objects and actions, and their adaptation to suit new requirements."

This object to be reused has been defined, as a reusable artefact, as " any information which a developer may need in the process of creating software" [8] by Freeman (1983).