Reuse of common components is important for simplification of testing and confirmation that working code is being used.  It is also valuable to ensure that consistent behavior is provided wherever the common component is relied upon.

The reusable components are intended to be portable across some family of platforms.  There are degrees of reusability and there will often be integration of lower-level components into customized higher-level modules that are targeted to distinct platforms (such as Java, .NET, COM, WinRT, JavaScript, and so on).  There can even be computer processor specializations.

To accomplish these varied levels of reusability along with specializations for performance and, sometimes, safety reasons, there will also be shared software-code units that are smaller than integrated functions they must be combined into for one use or another.  Because such embedded units depend on assurances of the integrated function for their correct operation, such embedded units are generally not exposed by the integrated function for independent usage.

This sketch outlines the different levels that will be employed in a toolcraft framework organized for the achievement of such reusability and portability.

The concepts will be demonstrated in the implementation of cryptographic primitives and utilities for their use in document forensics, personal clouds, personal data exchange, and other application settings.

See, e.g., DKx Proof-of-Concept Sketch for an activity in which the software-component toolcraft will be applied.

{Ed.Note: The general toolcraft concern is for the development of implementations that are able to be wrapped and interoperated in a variety of ways on a variety of platforms.  There must be consideration of ptimization cases: one for in-process objects and the other for piece-parts for compilation into use cases for cryptographic primitives and other objects where direct incorporation is preferable to library linking.  There is also consideration for prototyping, proof-of-concept, and testing, including cross-confirmation against existing implementations.}

Attribution:

Hamilton, Dennis E.

Software-Component Toolcraft: nfoWorks Approach Sketch.  nfoWorks devNote page d130301c 0.00 March 9, 2013.  Accessed at <http://nfoWorks.org/dev/2013/03/d130301c.htm>.

Revision History:

0.01 Placeholder for adding substantive material

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0.00 2013-03-09-10:44 Initial Placeholder

Provide initial placeholder content for sketching the toolcraft approach.  The content is not refined beyond a minimum for initial usage.