Focus on Components

A software component is typically modeled from one or more of four functional aspects: interface, static behavior, dynamic behavior, and interaction protocol. Each of these aspects helps to ensure different levels of component compatibility and interoperability. Existing approaches to component modeling have either focused on only one of the aspects (e.g., interfaces in various IDLs) or on well-understood combinations of two of the aspects (e.g., interfaces and their associated pre- and post-conditions in static behavioral modeling approaches). This paper argues that, in order to accrue the true benefits of componentbased software development, one may need to model all four aspects of components. However, this requires that consistency among the multiple aspects be maintained. We offer an approach to modeling components using the four-view perspective (called the Quartet) and identify the points at which the consistency among the models must be maintained.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 1998
• Where: SOFTWARE
• Keywords: Applied Computing, Functional Aspects, SOFTWARE 1998, Software Component, Static Behavioral Modeling