Constructing component-based software engineering environments: issues andexperiences

Developing software engineering tools is a difficult task, and the environm ents in which these tools are deployed continually evolve as software devel opers' processes, tools and tool sets evolve. To more effectively develop s uch evolvable environments, we have been using component-based approaches t o build and integrate a range of software development tools, including CASE and workflow tools, file servers and versioning systems, and a variety of reusable software agents. We describe the rationale for a component-based a pproach to developing such tools, the architecture and support tools we hav e used some resultant tools and tool facilities we have developed, and summ arise the possible future research directions in this area. (C) 2000 Elsevi er Science B.V. All rights reserved.