10.4. Tool Directions

For application development tool vendors there are a number of important challenges ahead to provide appropriate support for future enterprise-scale application solutions. In the near term, there are specific product releases and enhancements that will be made. In the longer term, the results of specific research activities will begin to influence tool features.

Currently, there is a great deal of attention focused on the areas of components, component technologies, and component approaches to software development and maintenance. Many companies have fundamentally reorganized their provisioning of software-based solutions to take advantage of these products and techniques. Consequently, it is critical to look at current directions in these areas and pose the question: What are the most significant advances being made in the area of component approaches in support of enterprise-scale software solutions? To address this question, we must consider a number of related areas of software development, and their support for business drivers shaping their growth and direction.