Introduction

What is Component Infrastructure?

A SOFTWARE COMPONENT INFRASTRUCTURE is a set of interacting software components designed to ensure that a software or subsystem constructed using those components and interfaces will satisfy clearly defined performance specifications.

What is a Connector?

A connector is an entity that connects two or more components together in a contractually specified way.

Examples: Pipes, RPC, Events

A connector contract specifies

QoS properties - such as transfer time or bandwidth
Semantics of interaction among components

Importance of Connector Design

Precisely specify a component's interface using a logical formalism, such as the Object Constraint Language.

Main Idea of this Chapter

Provide a practical, demonstrative way to design interfaces and connectors among components operating within a software component infrastructure