Investigating Focused Techniques for Understanding Frameworks

An object-oriented framework is an OO class hierarchy augmented with a built-in model which defines how the objects derived from the hierarchy interact with one another. Thus, a framework is more than a class library: it is a generic solution within a problem domain because the model of interaction is domain-specific. A framework is tailored to solve a particular problem by customizing its abstract and concrete classes. The framework architecture is reused by all specific solutions in that problem domain. By providing both design and infrastructure for developing applications, the framework approach promises to develop applications faster [Lew95]. The most popular frameworks are in the GUI application domain (e.g., MacApp, ET++, CommonPoint) and in the drawing domain (e.g., HotDraw, UniDraw), but frameworks have also been developed in other domains such as multimedia, manufacturing, financial trade, and data access.