Component Model Methodology

Here are the guidelines for understanding the problem of and developing specification for the Component Model.

Approach

1. Capture requirements as use cases;
2. Study use cases and extract a set of desired properties for these use cases;
3. Come with a design that satisfies all desired properties;
4. Extrude building blocks out of the design;
5. Write specification draft(s) for the building blocks;
6. Cultivate implementation feedback:
   • Provide experimental implementation(s) for the building blocks;
   • Seek feedback from the use case audiences;
   • Incorporate feedback into specification.
7. Write a test suite.
8. Iterate until success criteria is reached.

Success criteria

• The use cases:
  • reasonably cover a set of component model needs on the Web.
• The properties:
  • completely describe the set of use cases;
  • are orthogonal to each other.
• The building blocks:
  • satisfy all desired properties;
  • follow the component model design principles.
• The specification:
  • is a complete set of requirements for all building blocks and corner cases, discovered during implementation;
• The test suite:
  • provides coverage for each requirement in the specification.

Design Principles

• Reuse existing mechanisms as much as possible, gently extending them if necessary;
• Study popular patterns in existing Web frameworks and pave the cowpaths when appropriate;
• Encourage each building block to stand on its own merits.