A View on Components
Abstract:
Components are nowadays considered the next step in information system development. Components are assumed to foster reuse and flexibility, and reduce the complexity of distributed deployment. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the properties of components that determine whether the above goals are met. To that end, we explored the literature and had a number of interviews with representatives from tool-vendors, tool-users and software houses. The resulting views are summarized in this paper, and applied to a small example. In our further research, the architecture sketched in this example will be worked out in further detail, and compared with the architecture of similar systems found in industry. Such will deepen our understanding and assessment of architectural choices made. 1.ÃIntroduction Many organizations regard components as the next step in information system development. This is illustrated by the increasing number of vendors that are selling tools to support component-based development (CBD). These tools enable the developer to build components, combine components and deploy components. However, not every component that is built with such a tool, fully exploits the benefits of CBD. Some of the components we build are better than others. We would like to gain insight into the properties of a component that determine whether one component is better than another. The criterion to judge whether one component is better than another is its suitability to support the goals of the use of components. To ensure that our results are applicable in concrete situations we explored the existing views on components. This exploration included a study of the literature and interviews with companies investing in components. These included tool-vendors, tool-users and software houses. They all have their own view on components. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the ideas behind these views. In section 2 we indicate the goals we like to achieve by using components. In section 3 we describe the existing ideas about components. In section 4 we describe the relation between components and frameworks, two concepts that are often used in combination. And in section 5 we apply the ideas of the first sections in an example.
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