Customer Reviews

Component-Based Software Engineering: Putting the Pieces Together

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This book is an excellent collection of articles describing all of the important issues surrounding the construction of component-based software systems. Each chapter describes a different aspect of the question of how to build a system using reusable components. Although each of these chapters is written by a different author or authors, they have been edited so that they read as a continuous whole. It is interesting that the editors were able to get some of the biggest names in the field to write articles on their specialties. A look at the author biographies show that they include industry practitioners, academics, industrial researchers, and independent consultants. Together they have a very impressive amount of experience and varied expertise. Perhaps my only complaint is that because so many different topics are covered, and each article is rather brief, some of the articles just touch the surface of the issues. But they do provide a balanced picture of these issues which then allow you to go out and do further in-depth reading on salient topics using the included list of references.

This 818 page collection of 42 papers and articles is a definitive work on component-based software engineering. Regardless of your area(s) of interest, there is probably a chapter that addresses it. More importantly, each chapter is written by a top expert in their subspecialty.

Instead of giving a chapter-by-chapter description, I am going to cover the chapters that I found useful. To begin, Part II, chapters 1 through 3 gave me a quick primer in software components and highlighted the need to think in a different frame when dealing with component-based development. If you are new to CBSW then the 48 pages devoted to the basics are worthwhile reading.

Part II's five chapters on making a business and technical case for components is outstanding and the authors cover every facet. I found Part III, which covers software engineering practices, particularly useful. The value to me was the status of CBSW engineering on a global scale because I am currently providing consulting services to an India-based company that specializes in components. For this reason I also found Part IV's eight chapters on managing component-based software systems especially valuable.

The real eye-opener [for me], however, was in Part VIII, which devotes four interesting chapters on aspects of legal and regulatory issues as they related to software development as a discipline, and component-based software engineering specifically. In particular, chapter 38 on software component standards and certification was enlightening. I was also enlightened by chapter 39's fascinating discussion on commercial law applicable to component-based software, and the effects of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) on component-based software development and marketing.

This is an excellent book that covers the entire landscape of component-based software engineering and, although is a weighty 818 pages, is not difficult to read through. Each chapter is really a paper or article, so each is standalone. If you are dealing with off-shore development in any way, the book is especially valuable, and if you are doing CBSW in-house, the key differences between this approach and other development approaches are highlighted and will give you sufficient information with which to approach CBSW intelligently and effectively.

The "Search Inside this Book" feature was not available when this review was posted. This book contains the following (excellent) articles:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. COMPONENT DEFINITON.
1. Definition of Software Component and its Elements.
George T. Heineman, William T. Councill.
2. The Component Industry Metaphor.
Hedley Apperly.
3. Component Models and Component Services: Concepts and Principles.
Rainer Weinreich, Johannes Sametinger.
4. An Example Specification for Implementing a Temperature Regulator Software Component.
Janet Flynt, Jason Mauldin.

II. THE CASE FOR COMPONENTS.
5. The Business Case for Software Components.
John Williams.
6. COTS Myths and Other Lessons Learned in Component-Based Software Development.
Will Tracz.
7. Roles for Component-Based Development.
Paul Allen.
8. Common High Risk Mistakes in Component-Based Software Engineering.
Wojtek Kozaczynski.
9. CBSE Success Factors: Integrating Architecture, Process, and Organization.
Martin L. Griss.

III. SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PRACTICES.
10. The Practice of Software Engineering.
George T. Heineman.
11. From Subroutines to Subsystems: Component-Based Software Development.
Paul C. Clements.
12. Status of CBSE in Europe.
Barry McGibbon.
13. CBSE in Japan and Asia.
Mikio Aoyama.

IV. THE DESIGN OF SOFTWARE COMPONENT INFRASTRUCTURES.
14. Software Components and the UML.
Kelli Houston, Davyd Norris.
15. Component Infrastructures: Placing Software Components in Context.
Steve Latchem.
16. Business Components.
James Carey, Brent Carlson.
17. Components and Connectors: Catalysis Techniques for Defining Component Infrastructures.
Alan Cameron Wills.
18. An Open Process for Component-Based Development.
Brian Henderson-Sellers.
19. Designing Models of Modularity and Integration.
Kevin J. Sullivan.

V. FROM SOFTWARE COMPONENT INFRASTRUCTURES TO SOFTWARE SYSTEMS.
20. Software Architecture.
Alexander L. Wolf, Judith A. Stafford.
21. Software Architecture Design Principles.
Len Bass.
22. Product-Line Architectures.
Martin L. Griss.

VI. THE MANAGEMENT OF COMPONENT-BASED SOFTWARE SYSTEMS.
23. Measurement and Metrics for Software Components.
Jeffrey Poulin.
24. The Practical Reuse of Software Components.
Don Reifer.
25. Selecting the Right COTS Software: Why Requirements are Important.
Cornelius Ncube, N.A.M. Maiden.
26. Build vs. Buy: A Rebuttal.
George T. Heineman.
27. Software Component Project Management Processes.
William T. Councill.
28. The Trouble with Testing Software Components.
Elaine Weyuker.
29. Configuration Management and Component Libraries.
Hedley Apperly.
30. The Evolution, Maintenance and Management of Component-Based Systems.
Mark Vigder.

VII. COMPONENT TECHNOLOGIES.
31. Overview of the CORBA Component Model.
Douglas C. Schmidt, Nanbor Wang, Carlos O'Ryan.
32. Transactional COM+: Designing Scalable Applications.
Timothy J. Ewald.
33. The Enterprise JavaBeans Component Model.
David Blevins.
34. Bonobo and Free Software Gnome Components.
Michael Meeks.
35. Choosing Between COM+, EJB, and CCM.
Andy Longshaw.
36. Software Agents as Next Generation Software Components.
Martin L. Griss.

VIII. LEGAL AND REGULATORY.
37. CBSE as a Unique Engineering Discipline.
John Speed, William T. Councill, George T. Heineman.
38. The Future of Software Components: Standards and Certification.
Janet Flynt, Manoj Desai.
39. Commercial Law Applicable to Component-Based Software.
Stephen Chow.
40. The Effects of UCITA on Software Component Development and Marketing.
Stephen Chow.

IX. CONCLUSION.
41. Summary.
William T. Councill, George T. Heineman.
42. Future of CBSE.
William T. Councill, George T. Heineman, Jeff Poulin.
Appendix A. Glossary.
References.
About the Authors.

I hope this helps.

Covers the full spectrum of component-based software engineering, from the basics to legal aspects. Contains one of the most authoritative collections of essays and whitepapers on the subject between two covers. I have used this book as a basis for component-based development, and have also used it as the foundation for a SQA initiative because the material also addresses quality. Many of the essays support a software reuse strategy, which is an added bonus. Another use of this outstanding book is as a resource for in-house training in many aspects of software engineering outside of the component-based domain. It's that comprehensive and complete. I recommend using this book with Successful Software Development as the two primary references in mature development organizations.