Component technology - what, where, and how?

Abstract

Software components, if used properly, ofj~r many software engineering benefits. Yet, they also pose many original challenges starting fi'om quality assurance and ranging to architectural embedding and composability. In addition, the recent movement towards ervices, as well as the established world of objects, causes many to wonder what purpose components might have. This extended abstract summarizes the main points of my Frontiers of Software Practice (FOSP) talk at ICSE 2003. The topics covered aim to offbr an end-to-end overview of what role components shouM play, where they should be used, and how this can be achieved Some key open problems are also pointed out