A Catalogue of Component Connectors to Support Development with Reuse

Perla Velasco Elziondo
Centre for Mathematical Research, CIMAT, Guanajuato 36240, Mexico
pvelasco@cimat.mx

Kung-Kiu Lau
School of Computer Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
kung-kiu@cs.man.ac.uk

Abstract:

Component-based development is based on the idea of building software systems by
composing preexisting components. Connectors are the `glue' for composing components.
Therefore, it is important to consider connectors as first-class entities and provide
adequate descriptions of them to facilitate their understanding and promote their
reuse. We have defined a catalogue of component connectors to support the process of 
`development with reuse'. The categories and connector types in the catalogue were
obtained through an analysis of the activities involved in this process as well as
considering the syntax and semantics of a new component model.