COM
The component object model (COM) is a framework that allows sharing of executable modules without recompiling. If you have used Windows for any time at all, you are aware of dynamic-link libraries (DLLs), collections of functions a program can load on demand. Many programs can share a DLL, which goes a long way toward the principle of reuse. Unfortunately, DLLs that work well with some programming languages don't work at all with others. COM seeks to solve this problem. COM objects are accessible by C++, Visual Basic, Java, and PHP.
A tutorial on COM is beyond the scope of this text, of course. Microsoft's list of "noteworthy" books about COM is relatively long <http://www.microsoft.com/com/tech/com. asp>. However, you could keep busy just ...
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