Component-Based Development (CBD)

Object-oriented modeling results in a plethora of fine-grained classes, objects and relationships. It is very hard to discover reusable parts among these smaller units. The idea behind CBD is to integrate the related parts and reuse them collectively. These integrated parts are known as components.

Component-based development techniques consist of non-conventional development routines, including component evaluation, component retrieval, etc. It is important that the CBD is carried out within a middleware infrastructure that supports the process, for example, Enterprise Java Beans.

The key goals of CBD are as follows:

• Save time and money when building large and complex systems: Developing complex software systems with the help of off-the-shelf components helps reduce software development time substantially. Function points or similar techniques can be used to verify the affordability of the existing method.


• Enhance the software quality: The component quality is the key factor behind the enhancement of software quality.


• Detect defects within the systems: The CBD strategy supports fault detection by testing the components; however, finding the source of defects is challenging in CBD.

Some advantages of CBD include:

• Minimized delivery:
• Search in component catalogs
• Recycling of pre-fabricated components


• Improved efficiency:
  
• Developers concentrate on application development


• Improved quality:
• Component developers can permit additional time to ensure quality


• Minimized expenditures

The specific routines of CBD are:

• Component development
• Component publishing
• Component lookup as well as retrieval
• Component analysis
• Component assembly