Toward a Fundamentals-Based Perspective for Component-Based Software Development

Abstract

Contemporary practice in component-based software development (CBSD) is based on the use of a sophisticated array of commercial tools and wizards, many of which obfuscate the truly important central CBSD concepts. In the first part of this presentation, we present a conceptual foundation for CBSD. This foundation includes a collection of basic terminology, along with a formalization of the notion of a binary software component, which is a key element in contemporary CBSD practice. Part of this foundation also includes a formalization of rules for deployment of component-based software.

In the second part of the presentation, we present a sample of some of our curriculum materials that we have used to present component-based development in our undergraduate computer science curriculum. These materials include a case study where an application evolves from a relatively simple component-based architecture, to an architecture where the component packaging mechanisms become progressively more complex.

Dr. Allen Parrish is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at The University of Alabama. He received a Ph.D. in computer and information science from The Ohio State University in 1990. His research interests principally include component-based software development, software testing and data warehousing. Dr. Parrish is project director for an NSF Educational Innovations project to integrate fundamentals of component-based software development into the undergraduate computer science curriculum.  Dr. Parrish is also a principal investigator with the CARE project, which is nationally award-winning decision support system for performing transportation safety analysis. His current research sponsors include the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Alabama Department of Transportation. Dr. Parrish is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery and the IEEE Computer Society, where he is a member of the Educational Activities Board.

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