WKES 3206 Software Engineering II

Project Report
Group 6
2013/2014

Title: Halstead Calculator

Group Members: Tang Kun Loon WEK 110059
Lee JengHaur WEK 110027
Lam Weng Fai WEK 110026

Lecturer: DrMumtaz Begum Mustafa

Date: 22nd April 2014

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Table of Contents
Interview Report .............................................................................................................................................. 2
Chapter 1:Introduction of Component-Based Development ............................................................................ 5
1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 5
1.2 Concepts and definitions .................................................................................................................. 5
1.3 Purpose or objective ......................................................................................................................... 6
Chapter 2:NetBeans IDE GUI Builder Analysis .............................................................................................. 7
2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 7
2.2 Analysis of Identified or Reviewed Component Builder Tools ....................................................... 7
2.3 NetBeans IDE GUI Builder Scenarios (Conceptual Diagram) ........................................................ 9
2.4 Use Case Diagram for NetBeans IDE GUI Builder ....................................................................... 10
Chapter 3:Halstead calculator Application using NetBeans IDE GUI Builder ............................................. 12
3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 12
3.2 Halstead Metrics Definitions ......................................................................................................... 12
3.3 Program Justification using Halstead Metrics................................................................................ 14
3.4 Object Oriented Design .................................................................................................................. 14
3.4.1 Component Diagram ..................................................................................................................... 14
3.4.2Class Diagram ................................................................................................................................ 15
3.4.3Architecture Diagram ..................................................................................................................... 15
3.4.4Activity Diagram............................................................................................................................ 16
3.5 User Interface Design..................................................................................................................... 16
Chapter 4:Implementation of Application ..................................................................................................... 20
4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 20
4.2 System Environment ...................................................................................................................... 20
4.3 Programming Language ................................................................................................................. 20
4.4 Operating Environment .................................................................................................................. 20
4.5 Component Specification and Standard ......................................................................................... 20
4.6 System Implementation and Execution .......................................................................................... 21
4.7 System testing ................................................................................................................................ 22
Chapter 5: Comparison between Component Based and Traditional Development Methodology ............... 24
5.1 Comparison between Monolithic and Componentized .................................................................. 24
5.2 Advantages and Disadvantages ...................................................................................................... 24
Appendix ........................................................................................................................................................ 25

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Interview Report

Nature of Report

In order to gain insight into the component based software development and the opportunities
available for us to develop a component based application by using their existing product, the
students of Software Engineering II were instructed to interview a software company named F-
Secure. There were no stipulation about the medium used for the interview but the types of
questions that needed to be asked were examined by our lecturer, Dr.Mumtaz Begum binti Peer
Mustafa. Studentswere permitted to select their own respondent in hopes that they would be able to
interview someone or company involved in component based software development that the
student found interesting. The report aims to increase the knowledge and understanding level of
the students about component based software development.

Respondent's Background



The respondent we conducted an interview is a software architect named LiewSweeMeng is in the
midst of completing a degree in UPM Bachelor of Science (Mathematic/Computer Science),
master of Information Technology. He has 14 years of experience in Information Technology
career and as of now, he is working in F-Secure.

Why this Respondent was Chosen

Alan which is one of our group members, who finished his internship last semester in F-Secure,
knows Mr. Liew during his internship period. From Alan, we know that Mr. Liew has lots of
experience in component based software development and also the other software development
methodologies. Therefore, we chose to interview Mr. Liew after a deep consideration.

Goals for the Interview

We had several specific goals in mind when we approached this interview. First of all, we wanted
to learn more about the processes during the component based software development. We think
that component based software development is a major breakthrough in software development as
the component can be reused, increase productivity and conquering complexity. Therefore, we
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wanted to develop a deeper understanding of the mechanics that go into creating component.
Additionally, we wanted to expose ourselves into real working environment by meeting the real
software people rather than only study the textbooks.

Narrative of the Interview

The interview was conducted face to face on 28
th
of March from 12.30pm until 1.45pm, there were
totally 14 questions. At first, we were concerned that he might be too busy with his project.
Luckily, this was not the case. He answered our questions very promptly and clearly, which was a
relief. As the interview was done through face to face, we asked a lot of questions and anything
that we do not understand, he was willing to teach and share his experience with us. At the end of
the interview, we were thanking him for his time.

Impression of the Interview

Our impression from this interview was very positive. Not only did he answer our questions, but
his answers were also witty, insightful and clear. He also told us more about the component based
software development, which made us have a proper understanding about it. Before the interview,
we were worrying about the outcome of the interview. However, we were pleased with the
outcome of the interview and also the interviewee.

Impact on Our View of Component Based Software Development

From this interview, we know what is component and how does the component interact with each
other. Before this, we were so confusing how to differentiate OOP and COP. We could not get the
big picture of the component based software development. As Mr. Liew told us more and more
through the sample provided, we finally have a clear understanding about it. The main goals of
component based software development were conquering complexity, increase productivity and
reusability. Other than the benefits, we also know the difference between the life cycle of
component based software development and the life cycle of the traditional software development.
For example, everything start from the scratch in traditional software development. However, we
can reuse the existing components in the market and then assemble them into a new application in
component based software development. Hence, this can increase the productivity and also reduce
the project life cycle significantly. In the end of the interview, Mr. Liew advices us to explore the
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component application and this is an excellent advice as we would like to experience it through
practical.

Information that is still needed

We wish that we had been able to get more information about the component application of F-
Secure in the interview and the source code of the component. However, he was not very
convenient to tell us about that especially the source code of the component application that was
developed by his company as it was understandable that those components was not open source.
We found what we could get some source code through online, but we think it would have been
helpful to have a littlemore information.

Conclusion

Overall, we think the interview was very successful. We learned more about component based
software development that we are interested in, and we were able to explore the real working
environment in the field of professional software development. We hope we can use the
knowledge that we gain from this interview to complete our component application and also
provide a clear and better understanding of the component based software development to our
classmates.

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Chapter 1:Introduction of Component-Based Development
1.1 Introduction

This group project was held to give more understanding on component-oriented programming
(COP). Component oriented programming is a method of decomposing a problem into major
sections and each has a particular role or domain of responsibility in solving the problem.In this
group project, the concept on component-based development will be implemented by constructing
a Halstead Calculator application using existing components and comparing with non-component
based development.
1.2 Concepts and definitions

In this section, main concepts and definitions in the field of Component-Based Software
Development (CBSD) are introduced as below:
CBSD
Component-based software engineering (CBSE) is a process that emphasizes the design and
construction of computer-based systems using reusable software components. CBSE is changing
the way large software systems are developed. The main objectives of CBSE include reduction of
cost and time for building large and complicated system, improving the quality of the software and
ease the detection process of defect within the systems.
Component
Component is a piece of reusable unit of deployment and composition that has its own
functionality. A component is a building block that can be combined with other components in the
same or other computers in a distributed network to form an application. Examples of a component
include: a single button in a graphical user interface, a small interest calculator, an interface to a
database manager.
I nterface
Interface is a subset of the Cartesian set of the power sets of properties, methods, and events,
denes the communication parts of the component to the outside world.There are 2 kinds of
interfaces:
Provided interface one that provides certain functions for other components to utilise.
Used interface one that requires and uses functions as provided by other components.


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Connector
A connector is a first class architectural element that reflects the specific features of interactions
among components in a system. Connectors are channels for passing on the control to other
components.
Component Composition
Component composition is the integration of several components together to generate a new
component or application with composition operators defined in a component infrastructure. A
new and more complex component can be borned.
Component Model
A component model is a definition of standards for component implementation, documentation
and deployment. Examples of component models include Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB)
model, Component Object Model (COM) model, .NET model and Common Object Request
Broker Architecture (CORBA) component Model.
Composition Environment
Composition environment is a program that is used to construct an application out of deployable
components and it is usually accompanied by a component infrastructure (component framework).
Composition environment can be considered as places where all components is gathered,
connected and configured to become complete software.
Component Specification
A Component Specification is a generic description of a component. It defines its dependencies to
other components, what actions that can be performed on it and how those actions affect the
dependencies. It also defines what artifacts the component can export to other components.

1.3 Purpose or objective

To develop a Halstead Calculator GUI application using Netbeans IDE GUI Builder.
To understand Component-Based Software Development through development of Halstead
Calculator with the use of component framework and whiteboard component model.
To differentiate between Components based development fromthe traditional development
methodology.

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Chapter 2:NetBeans IDE GUI Builder Analysis
2.1 Introduction
Integrated Development Environment abbreviated as IDE, a programming environment integrated
into a software application that provides a GUI builder, a text or code editor, a compiler and
interpreter or debugger. Visual Studio, Delphi, JBuilder, FrontPage and DreamWeaver are all
examples of IDEs. The boundary between an integrated development environment and other parts
of the broader software development environment is not well-defined.
Support for alternative languages is often provided by plugins, allowing them to be installed on the
same IDE at the same time. For example, Eclipse and Netbeans have plugins for C/C++, Ada,
GNAT (for example AdaGIDE), Perl, Python, Ruby, and PHP, among other languages in use. For
this CBSE project, we are going to choose NetBeans IDE GUI Builder as our IDE builder to
construct an application that so-called Halstead Calculator application. Within this Chapter2, the
analysis of existing IDE builders will be described and also the reason of NetBeans IDE GUI
Builder chosen is given.
2.2 Analysis of Identified or Reviewed Component Builder Tools

No. Tools Descriptions
1. Microsoft Visual
Studio

If you are looking for the definitive IDE for Windows application
development, look no further than to Microsoft's own developer
toolset. Visual Studio products cover languages like C++, C# and
VB.NET. In addition, you are also able to develop for the
Windows x86, Windows RT, and Windows Phone. The latest
version of Visual Studio is also designed to be optimized for touch,
just in case you happen to be writing code on a Microsoft Surface.
2. Oracle Netbeans

If you are more of a Java developer, Oracle's got your back with
their Netbeans IDE. Of course, despite the fact that excellent Java
support is its claim to fame going as far back as the Sun
Microsystems days, other languages like C/C++, Ruby, HTML5,
PHP and more are supported as well. Netbeans is extremely
extensible via its plugin-centric design, allowing you to add
additional language syntax support and libraries, among other
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things. Netbeans is free under theCommon Development and
Distribution License (CDDL) v1.0 and GNU General Public
License (GPL) v2.
3. Eclipse

This IDE is quite comprehensive and even similar to Netbeans in a
variety of ways, including its use of Java and plugin architecture.
However, Eclipse as an IDE comes in a wild variety of flavors,
catering to various needs and objectives in software development
workflows. The Eclipse Foundation even provides a comparison
page to view the differences between the variants of Eclipse.
Eclipse is free under the terms and conditions of the Eclipse
Foundation Software User Agreement unless otherwise specified.
4. Code::Blocks

Unlike the other products seen thus far, Code::Blocks, which is
built on the wxWidgets framework, is exceptionally lightweight in
size, yet still quite functional and feature-rich IDE. You can load
up a number of under-the-hood compiler engines, ranging from
GCC and LLVM, to Digital Mars and Open Watcom.
Code::Blocks also takes advantage of multi-core compiling,
allowing you to get the job done faster. Code::Blocks is distributed
under the GPL v3.0 license which means it can be used freely by
anyone.
5. Aptana Studio

If web and scripting languages are more of your style, Aptana is
well suited for the task. PHP, Ruby on Rails, and Python are
supported as well as the likes of Adobe AIR. Even the studio itself
is available as a plugin for Eclipse if you prefer the way Aptana
handles your work and want to combine it with a more
comprehensive IDE. Aptana Studio 3 is free and available solely
under the GNU General Public License.


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2.3 NetBeans IDE GUI Builder Scenarios (Conceptual Diagram)
















Scenario Descriptions:
1. User imports components from repository.
2. Select the appropriate components needed for a specific application
3. Sometimes there is necessary to change a component and replace it with another one.
4. The selected components are being composed in case all the needed components are
available and no inconsistency exist among the components
5. Run the completed application to see the result of composition.
6. Save the completed application for future reuse.

Component Repository Available Components
Composition of selected
components
Executable Application
Select

User

Run Save
Visualization


Coding

Runtime

Assembling

Change/Replace

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2.4 Use Case Diagram for NetBeans IDE GUI Builder



Use Case Actor Flow of Events
Add
Components
Developer 1. In orderto add components to build an application in
Netbean GUI Builder, developer has to create a Java
container using the JFrame component and places the
container in a new package.
2. Hence, the GUI form in the GUI Builder has been created
by using the Netbean IDE.
3. A list of available components containing tabs for
JFC/Swing, AWT, and JavaBeans components are shown
in the palette section of GUI Builder provides.
4. Developer selects the desired component from the list by
clicking and releasing the mouse button and then move the
cursor to the form in the GUI Builder and clicks desired
place within the form to place the chosen component in
that location.
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Remove
Components
Developer 1. In order to remove component from the composed
components in Netbean GUI Builder, developer click on
the component chosen to be deleted within GUI form.
2. Developer right clicks that particular component after the
3. Component is targeted.
4. Afterward right click the component and a delete option
will be available in the options list for developer to click.
5. Developer clicks the delete option to remove that
particular component from the GUI form.
Compose
Components
Developer 1. The use case begins when a developer desires to compose
the components within the design form of GUI builder.
2. Developer aligns components within the design form to
have a desired design structure.
3. Developer may add event interactions between the
components (exp: jButton&jTextfield) by creating the
events (exp: actionPerformed) and listeners handlers.
4. After all the adjustments are done, developer clicks Save
button as the java file will automatically compiling when
saved in NetBeans IDE.
5. The components within the form are considered composed
together successfully after the compiling without errors.
Run
Composed
Application
Developer 1. In order to run the composed application to see the results,
developer clicks the Preview Form button in the GUI
Builders toolbar.
2. Byallowing developer to test it prior to building and
running, the form opens in its own windowing. By the way
developer has to makes sure there is no error that can be
seen in the Output window at the bottom.
3. Developer clicks on the Run Main Project option from
Run list at IDE toolbar and then clicks OK to accept the
main class of the project.
Save
Application
Developer 1. In order to save the application for distribution outside of
the IDE, developer has to Compile and Save the main
project.
2. Builds the application (Build > Build Main Project), the
IDE automatically provides a copy of the library's JAR file
in the application's dist/lib folder.
3. Afterward zips the project's dist. folder into a ZIP archive
if want to prepare the GUI application for distribution
outside of the IDE.
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Chapter 3: Halstead calculator Application using NetBeans IDE GUI Builder
3.1 Introduction
Halstead complexity measurement was developed to measure a program module's complexity
directly from source code, with emphasis on computational complexity. The measures were
developed by the late Maurice Halstead as a means of determining a quantitative measure of
complexity directly from the operators and operands in the module. They are strong indicators
of code complexity. Because they are applied to code, they are most often used as maintenance
metric.
3.2 Halstead Metrics Definitions
According to Halstead, a computer program is an implementation of an algorithm considered
to be a collection of tokens which can be classified as either operators or operands. For
example, a program can be thought of as a sequence of operators & their associated operands.
All Halsteads metrics are functions of the counts of these tokens: By counting the tokens and
determining which are operators and operands, the following base measures can be collected:
n1: Number of distinct operators.
n2: Number of distinct operands.
N1: Total number of occurrences of operators.
N2: Total number of occurrences of operands.
In addition to the above, Halstead defines the following:
n1*: Number of potential operators.
n2*: Number of potential operands.
Halstead's metrics are all defined based on its set of base quantities
(n1, n2, N1, N2, n1* and n2*).
1. The vocabulary (n) of a program P is:
n = n1 + n2
2. The length (N) of a program P is:
N = N1 + N2
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3. The volume (V) of a program P is defined as:
a) A suitable measure for the size of any implementation of any algorithm
b) A count of the number of mental comparisons required to generate a program
V = N *

n



4. Programming effort (E) is defined as a measurement of the mental activity required to
reduce a preconceived algorithm to a program P. E is defined as the total number of
elementary mental discriminations required to generate a program:

E =

5. The required programming time (T) for a program P of effort E is defined as:
T =

where S is the Stroud number, defined as the number of elementary discriminations
performed by the human brain per second. The S value for software scientists is set to 18.
The unit of measurement of T is the second.




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3.3 Program Justification using Halstead Metrics

A high Difficulty (D) result for an entire project offers the programmer justification for spending
more time on a project than another project of similar length or Volume (V). The Volume (V) for an
entire project is a better measure of project size than number of lines of code when trying to
determine how long it would take to read through and understand the project. When comparing
two programswhich accomplishing the same task, these metrics can be compared between
programs providing information for technical and non-technical managers. Volume
(V) andDifficulty (D) provide objective results respectively. However, they do not capture the
subjective manners in which two programs may differ.
The Volume (V) and Difficulty (D) per Function metrics are more valuable for embedded
programmers. A high Volume (V) may mean that a function should be split into smaller pieces. A
high Difficulty (D) indicates that a variety of different operations are performed and the purpose of
the function may need to be streamlined. These measurements work best when they are used to
quickly find problematic areas in a large code-base. It is the nature of some tasks that they lead to a
high Difficulty (D) or Volume (V), but softer rules like "All Volumes above 3000 must include
justification for their size in their comments" allow for this. (McCabe, 1996, 2.5 Limiting
Cyclomatic complexity to 10, para. 1)
Since all metrics are calculated when the project is finished the purpose of Time to Implement
(T) could be thought of as the time to re-implement, if the project needed to be rewritten in a
different language. Time to Implement (T) is the most controversial of Halstead's Metrics and
should be taken with a grain of salt. (Virtual Machinery, 2011, Halstead, para. 14)

3.4 Object Oriented Design
3.4.1 Component Diagram


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3.4.2Class Diagram


3.4.3Architecture Diagram



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3.4.4Activity Diagram


3.5 User Interface Design

1) Figure 3.1 below shows the main page of the Halstead Calculator application.



Figure 3.1: Main page of Halstead Calculator application

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2) Upload a java fileby clicking on the button of Choose a file as shown in Figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2: Choose a file button

3) A file chooser window will be prompted and you are required to select a java which
intended to be calculated.


Figure 3.3: File Chooser Window

4) Alternately, you can choose to upload a folder of java file which consist of a whole
complete of program folder by clicking the Choose a folder button.


Figure 3.4: Choose a folderbutton

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5) A folder chooser window will be prompted and you are required to select a folder of
program file which consists of more than one java file inside the folder.


Figure 3.5: Folder Chooser Window
6) Number of files which have been uploaded will be indicated on the main page of
application as shown in Figure 3.6.


Figure 3.6: Uploaded files number

7) Click the Scan button to start the calculation of the uploaded java file.

Figure 3.7: Uploaded files number

8) The total Distinct Operators and Distinct Operands will be calculated and prompted to user.

Figure 3.8: Operators and Operands

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9) Click Calculate button in order to obtain the metrics of the uploaded java file.


Figure 3.9: Calculate button
10) Halstead metrics will be calculated and prompted to user.

Figure 3.10: Halstead Metrics

11) Click the reset button if you intendto perform anothermetrics calculation for another java
file and clear the previous data.

Figure 3.11: Reset button



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Chapter 4:Implementation of Application

4.1 Introduction
Implementation of application is the phase that comes after system design. Using a suitable
programming language, functionalities are converted into maintainable program code to satisfy
the requirements of the user. Testing is a process which is done during and after
implementation to ensure good quality of the system.

4.2 System Environment
This section explains about programming language used to develop NetBeans IDE along with
the programming environment used. The external libraries which are utilized are introduced.
At last, the standards which should be practiced by the components which are imported in
NetBeans IDE are explained and discussed.
4.3 Programming Language
NetBeans is a product of Oracle Corporation, which is written in Java programming language.
Oracle Corporation own and manage the many other Java technologies and tools.
4.4 Operating Environment
NetBeans IDE is a cross-platform (multi-platform) development tool/software that can be run
on any operating system (OS) as long as the Java virtual machine (JVM) is installed. This is
because the NetBeans IDE is built from Java language, which is a platform independent
language. When the Java code is compiled, a byte code is generated which independent of the
system. The Java byte codes can be run in any OS that with Java Runtime Environment (JRE).
4.5 Component Specification and Standard
Any composition tool for software components sets some standards for the components that
are going to be imported by that tool. NetBeans IDE is not an exception. Components which
are going to be composed by NetBeans IDE must follow these standards:
I. The type of connector in components is message passing. The type of message passing for
NetBeans IDE is indirect method calling. For this purpose, each component that uses other
components methods should have some setter methods to getter the values of the external
component variables. For example: public void getDOperator() {;}. Similarly, a
component should have setter methods for other components to get the values from the
component.
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II. Each component must have an XML file with the same name as the component which
identifies the components specification. This XML file must be in the same directory that
the component is located. For example, below is an XML library definition for a Bean.jar
As for Java components that are used in this application, we follow the implementation using a
Java component model that is taught in class. The component model enables automated
component assembly. The component model is supported by component framework, which
usually a runtime program that wires the components deployed. In our case, we will be using
the publish and consume whiteboard query-based component models. The working mechanism
of the whiteboard component model is based on common communication space between
components that is provisioned at runtime. The components, which are unknown to one another
prior to the assembly, get to know about other components through the common
communication facility and choose a companion to compose with. The standards and
specification of the component are as below:
I. Each component providing service through a provided interface must declare the providing
object to be of a type ComponentInterface.
II. Each component providing service through a provided interface must be package into
correct .jar file.
4.6 System Implementation and Execution
Programming Language that is used in this project will be Java. All the interfaces for each of
the components are specified in component interfaces. The application that requires service
from a component will be communicating through a common interface. Functioning
components that are used in this application have to implements the ComponentInterface
before it can be used and included into the whiteboard component model.
There are total of 4 components used in this application:
1. The first component will be the JavaFileChooser. This component is used to handle
file choosing and returning an object of the java file chosen by the user.
2. The second component will be JavaDirectoryChooser which allows user to choose a
folder or directory, and the component will look for each and every files and
subdirectory of the folder. Finally it will return a list of java files found by the
component.
3. The third component is the JavaScanner. JavaScanner is used to scan through the
syntax of a java file given, returning the 4 essential Halstead metrics needed by the
application.
4. The last component will be the HalsteadCalculator. This component responsible to
calculate the result based on the metrics given.
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Operating System that is used to development this application is Windows 8.0 and the
application can be execution on any computer with Java installed. Once all the Jar packages are
placed in the same directory, the application can be executed with the following command:
java -cp .;./* componentRunner.ComponentRunner halsteadcalcapp.halsteadcalcapp
4.7 System testing

Testing is conducted on the complete, integrated system to make sure the expected
requirements are satisfied. This level is considered as black-box approach of software testing.
- Test reference
Halstead Calculator application is tested to ensure the requirements which are
identified are met.

- Features tested
Halstead Calculator application is tested to make sure all the buttons shown are
functioning well and the result displayedis able to meet the desired output.

- Features not tested
Halstead Calculator is not tested for component inconsistencies. If the components
which are chosen for composition are from different component models, the tool
behaviours are unexpected.

- Test ease identifiers
Each test case is assigned an identifier. This identifier starts with TC which is the
abbreviation of test case followed by a _ and a number.



- Test cases
The functional test cases for the main operations of Halstead Calculator are
describes below.
Test Case ID TC_1
Test Items Choosea java file from local directory
Input Java file
Expected Outcome A java file is chosen and inserted into application
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Test Status Pass

Test Case ID TC_2
Test Items Choose a folder consists of more than single java file
Input A file folder
Expected Outcome A folder of java files is inserted into application
Test Status Pass

Test Case ID TC_3
Test Items Click scanbutton to analyse the chosen java file
Input Scanbutton is clicked
Expected Outcome Distinct Operator, Distinct Operand, Total Operator and
Total Operand in the program are calculated and shown.
Test Status Pass

Test Case ID TC_4
Test Items Click calculatebutton to calculate the Halstead metrics
Input Calculatebutton is clicked
Expected Outcome All the fields of Halstead metrics are being calculated and
shown based on operators and operands.
Test Status Pass


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Test Case ID TC_5
Test Items Click resetbutton to clear previous record
Input Resetbutton is clicked
Expected Outcome All the fields in Halstead Calculator application is being
cleared and left blank.
Test Status Pass
Chapter 5: Comparison between Component Based and Traditional
Development Methodology

5.1 Comparison between Monolithic and Componentized

Monolithic Halstead Componentized Halstead
Total line of code : 526 Total line of code : 1229
Total line of code (without GUI) :
462
Total line of code in main application
class (without GUI)
: 160
Total number of class : 1 Total number of class : 12
Startup time : ~ 0.3s Startup time : ~ 0.4s

5.2 Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages Traditional Development
Less line of code
Single monolithic file/executable
Straight forward
Very effective for small scale program
Disadvantages Traditional Development
Not able to reuse any part of it without digging into code level
Writing GUI structure, layout and styling without using tool consume a lot of
time, more ugly
Messy, hard to read
More bugs, less secured, variable more likely to be modifiable by functions that
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should not modify it
Implementing change consume a lot if time, degrades the code, introduce many
more bugs


Advantages Component Based Development
Increased maintainability
Increased readability, operations are grouped into functions
Cleaner and organized codes
Replaceable parts
Easily reusable
Loose coupling
No compile-time dependency, only run-time dependency
Workload can be split
Application can be developed & compiled partly and separately
NetBeans GUI builder makes interface fast completed and well looking
Make program more scalable
Less bugs, better security, variables less likely to be modified by different
function/component
Disadvantages Component Based Development
More lines of codes
More files
Consume a little more system resources

Appendix

Interview Questions and Answers
Selected Questions for Interview

1. What is your position in this company? How many years have you worked as a developer?
How many years you worked in this company?
Im LiewSweeMeng, software architect in F-Secure. I have completed my degree
inBachelor of Science (maths/comp science) in UPM and I also completed master in IT. I
have14 years in this field and 3 years of working experience in this company.
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2. What do you know about component based development
For example, Eclipse, is a component based application, build with OSGi, plug in can be
built on top of OSGi, example like SVN, git. Not only plugins, Eclipse itself is component
based, being built by components working together with OSGi. Software Component can
be Plugin component or service component. Remote Procedural Call (RPC) is the oldest
component based technology. Existed before cobra, cobra also considered outdated now.
After cobra will be web-based component/service. Cobra is internal network (intranet)
based. Cobra is out mainly coz of its security issue. Now cobra is used only in old and huge
company where they employed the use of cobra and still have the system running until now.
Mid of 2000 until now SOAP, xml based. Client/application request WSDL file from the
component/service provider that contained service detail (API/interface), then the client
will know what is provided and how to use it.Recent 5 year REST (HTTP) + json, URL
based services.The masterpiece of our company, F-secure Internet security plugins is also
used, use everything in COP OOP SP. Not every part of the application can use a
component; it is just as subsets of objects to publish certain services they offer.


3. I n your personal opinion, which programming technique do you prefer?
Not necessary limited to only one of those SP, OOP, COP. Program codes can be partly
structured, and little bit OOP. Coz SP is simple, straight forwards; paradigm nowadays has
shifted back to SP again.
4. From your experience, do you think that COP has more advantages than OOP? Why?
Cannot be compared so generally. It is totally depends on the nature and need of the
application. CBSE can minimal the development with the use of services, libraries,
frameworks.

5. What are the problems that you met before in component-oriented development?
Security, even REST, security must be well defined to secure the service, like REST, need
to do some security on URl, if not ppl can access easily. Management of component
interfaces is troublesome, interface must not change in order for things to work. But to
come out with a good interface is not easy. Interfaces are likely to change if requirement
change or to tolerate other part of the system. Performance is important, to handle more
user load. Component might not able handle that, coz do not how it actually works. If
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provider change interface, time is also needed for applications that use the
service/component to change to adapt with the current interface.

6. What kind of software specification or situation that you will suggest COP?
Depends on the application pattern, depends on the modelling of the application. Hard to be
describe in words. In general, if existing component/service exist, then go for COP. Still
many other factors that contribute to the use of COP.

7. Do you use component concept in your projects development before? I f Yes: Can you list
out some examples with what types of project? I n which way does component concept
helps? What are the difficulties that you faced when developing using this concept?
Yes, example: authentication. Another example will be back end services, with most of it
are web based products, but not all. Less code to write, centralize program management
and have a standard way of writing code.Almost impossible to build an application with
only component assembling without extra work, only suitable for simple application. In
realistic, it is hard to archive, only part of the application will make use of services.

8. Do you think that using Component Oriented Programming will affect your competition
with other I T companies?
The use of COP will not, but the feature/services that the company provided will. Another
factor is timing, delivering the right product that matches the peoples need and favourite.
For example the current trend, towards cloud computing, flat UI design, mobile-first
services.

9. Did you ever develop a project using component from third party/off the shelf product?
Yes. There are 2 kind of components can be used in development which are component
service which is publicly available such as google twitter apis and private/paid component
service such as customer relationship management.

10. How do you select the components? Based on what criteria?
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Assessment budget, API provided, security, performance, availability, future expansion,
tools provided by the component vendor or other party eg. tooling/library provided to easy
the connection.

11. Did your company develop reusable component so that every team can develop project
using it?
Sometime will, sometime not, totally depends on developers on how to do it. If they want
to contribute, they will go ahead. Otherwise they wont do it. Usually internal components
that are being produced will be publicised to other member of the company through email
or info sharing session to let the rest of the company to know about it. The developers who
created the component themselves have to take initiative to do so.

12. How do you segmentise software system into software component? I s there any method
used to determine that?
There is no general way on how to do it, each depends on how easily to integrate, and the
API provided by the component/service.


13. I s software maintenance or bug fixing becomes easier when software system implement
COP?
For public free components do report to the developers of the component, or contribute
ourselves if source code available (open source product), if not available, can self-write 1,
depends on the functionality, but usually the team will access it very clear before take the
use of the component, to reduce risk like bugs or failure caused by the component. For
Commercial paid component contract the support team of the component vendor, and
wait for reply/solution for the component. Internal component create feature request if
need new functionality of the component, and report bug to the maintenance team.

14. Could the size of project or organization affect the decision of approach used?
Now I would say no affect, but if for old time, OOP will be more preferable.
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