A case study of framework design for horizontal reuse

In this experience report, we present a case study in designing, implementing and reusing an object-oriented framework for constructing and editing complex search expressions over arbitrary data domains. We present a framework design that achieves a large degree of business domain decoupling through the application of design patterns. We outline the reuse process and analyse and classify the problems encountered during the first-instance framework reuse. The major lessons learned are: (1) that, while design patterns are well-known for providing decoupling solutions at the code level, the lack of similar decoupling techniques at the non-code level may give rise to technical mismatch problems between the framework and the client systems; (2) that such technical mismatch problems can be costly; and (3) that a reusable framework may beneficially provide a solution template when it cannot provide actual functionality.