Engineering Web Applications for Reuse

In this paper we present Web design frameworks as a conceptual approach to maximize reuse in Web applications. We first analyze the current state of the art of Web applications design, stating the need for an approach that clearly separates concerns (conceptual, navigational, interface). We briefly introduce the OOHDM approach for Web applications design. We next focus on the problem of design reuse in Web applications. After a short review the state of the art of object-oriented application frameworks we present the rationale for a slightly different approach focusing on design reuse instead of code reuse. We then present OOHDM-Frame, a syntax for defining the hot spots of generic Web applications designs. We illustrate the use of OOHDM-Frame with a case study in the domain of Conference Paper Review Systems. We finally discuss how to implement Web design frameworks in different Web platforms.