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This book is a collection of 42 chapters written by different authors. The goal is to inform about the state-of-the-art of CBSE. The two editors brought the articles together in nine parts and added introductions, conclusions and summaries. After each part many references for further reading can be found. The first chapter gives definitions of software component, software component model, software component model implementation and software component infrastructure. All other authors base their chapter on those definitions.

According to several articles CBSE could offer several advantages, often stating the failure of OOD to live up its expectations. Several of the chapters try to raise CBSE to a real engineering subject, even proposing a university curriculum and certification. Worth reading is the chapter by Elaine J. Weyuker, who is pessimistic about the potential decreased development costs and increased software quality using CBSD. She points out the inherent difficulty of testing components.

Some of the chapters are slightly academic, but in the 800 pages there are more than enough interesting topics. The chapters cover the business case for components, discuss the importance of metrics, give an overview of the current existing component models (CORBA CM, COM+, EJB, Bonobo) and sketch the status of CBSE in Europe and Asia. Other chapters discuss repositories, design processes and advice and pitfalls. The last part gives some background on the business of Components and the American law.