Component-based software development (CBSD) or component-based software engineering (CBSE) is concerned with the assembly of pre-existing software components into larger pieces of software. Underlying this process is the notion that software components are written in such a way that they provide functions common to many different systems. Borrowing ideas from hardware components, the goal of CBSD is to allow parts (components) of a software system to be replaced by newer, functionally equivalent, components.

The Development Process

Component-based software development encompasses two processes:   1. assembling software systems from software components and   2. developing reusable components. The activity of developing systems as assemblies of components may be broadly classified in terms of four activities.   1. component qualification,   2. component adaptation,   3. component assembly, and   4. system evolution and maintenance.