Java™ Design: Objects, UML, and Process

10.4. Frameworks and Class Libraries

Object orientation has been promising reuse for many years, but only now are we beginning to realize this promise. Identifying various business processes and workflows is the means to writing reusable code. Assuming we've identified solid reuse candidates, our next challenge is determining a strategy for achieving reuse. This strategy should involve the establishment of an architectural vision, which may involve growing a framework or a class library.

Framework and class library often are used synonymously. However, a framework isn't the same as a class library. The two concepts differ on a fundamental level. Frameworks help us resolve challenges through inheritance, whereas class libraries do so through composition. ...