Guidelines: Component

Component

A component is a physical, replaceable part of a system that packages implementation and conforms to and provides the realization of a set of interfaces. A component represents a physical piece of implementation of a system, including software code (source, binary or executable) or equivalents such as scripts or command files. Graphically, a component is rendered as a rectangle with tabs.

Explanation

Examples of Deployment Components

Executables	for example .exe files
Load libraries	for example .dll files
Applets	for example, .class for Java
Web pages	for example, .htm and .html files
Database tables

Examples of Work Product Components

Source code files	for example, .h, .cpp and .hpp files for C++, CORBA IDL, or .java for Java
Binary files	for example, .o and .a files that are linked into executables
SOM files	IDL and bindings
Build files	for example, makefiles

Use

The classes and objects, from design, are implemented as deployment components. You should decide how the design classes are mapped to code; this should be captured in the Design Guidelines specific to the project.

For more information about how the design classes can be mapped to code, refer to Activity: Implement Component. See also Guidelines: Class.

Rational Unified Process