A software component is an identifiable part of a software system that provides a clear interface with other parts.
In practice, this notion can be broad, spanning a range of abstraction levels from individual functions to a large subsystem, such as a software engine or a web service. However, component-based software engineering advocates thorough planning in the design and arrangement of components.
History
The idea that software should be componentized, built from reusable components, first became prominent with Douglas McIlroy's address at the NATO conference on software engineering in Garmisch, Germany, 1968, titled Mass Produced Software Components.[1] The conference set out to counter the so-called software crisis. McIlroy's subsequent inclusion of pipes and filters into the Unix operating system was the first implementation of an infrastructure for this idea.
Brad Cox refined the concept of a software component in the 1980s.[2] He attempted to create an infrastructure and market for reusable third-party components by inventing the Objective-C programming language.[3]
References
- ^ McIlroy, Malcolm Douglas (January 1969). "Mass produced software components" (PDF). Software Engineering: Report of a conference sponsored by the NATO Science Committee, Garmisch, Germany, 7-11 Oct. 1968. Scientific Affairs Division, NATO. p. 79.
- ^ Rainer Niekamp. "Software Component Architecture" (PDF). Gestión de Congresos - CIMNE/Institute for Scientific Computing, TU Braunschweig. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
The modern concept of a software component largely defined by Brad Cox of Stepstone, => Objective-C programming language
- ^ Brad Cox (1991). Object Oriented Programming: An Evolutionary Approach. Addison Wesley. ISBN 0-201-54834-8.
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