Introduction from the session chair Component-based development process

In a component-based development process we distinguish development of components from development of systems [1]. When developing component-based systems we focus on identification of reusable entities and selection of components that fulfils system’s requirements. When developing components our focus is on reusability. Components are developed as reusable entities to be used in many products. For this reason they must be general enough but also sufficiently specific to be easily identified, understood and used. Components communicate with their environment only through the interface, so it is the interface which provides all the information needed and it is only the interface that provides this information. For this reason it is natural that component-development is interface-focused. One of the main challenges of component development is to design an appropriate interface.