A Lightweight Process Model and Development Methodology for Component Frameworks

Software frameworks typically constitute a semi-finished software architecture for a complex application domain that can be adapted to the needs and requirements of a concrete application in the domain. Since the introduction of objectoriented frameworks in the late eighties, the development of software frameworks is still costly and difficult to handle. To reduce development risk, process models and development methodologies for object-oriented frameworks have been developed, e. g., the hot-spot-driven approach by Pree. With the emergence of component technology also so-called component frameworks appeared that are currently considered as the highest level of software architecture reuse. In contrast to object-oriented frameworks, a proper process model for component frameworks is still missing. Such a process model needs support by a development methodology for identifying and specifying the framework’s components. Consequently, the quality of today’s component frameworks is eventually dependent on the experience and skills of the framework developers. The contribution of this position paper is a lightweight process model and development methodology for component frameworks. This process model is called ProMoCF and bases on the hot-spot-driven approach for object-oriented frameworks. ProMoCF extends it by activities and methodical support for identifying the framework’s components and defining the framework’s flexibility requirements by introducing so-called group-hot-spot-cards. In this position paper, we argue for the benefits of a lightweight process model for developing software frameworks. The proposed approach has been successfully applied to the development of our component framework for personalized multimedia applications.