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To indicate just how broad our definition of software technology is, we
identify below the various categories of entries that are found within this
document. A technology description will not explicitly identify the category
into which its subject falls, but the reader should be able to infer the
category from the information in the entry.
- Elemental Technology.
An elemental technology can (in general) be traced to a
single, identifiable theory or concept related to software development,
understanding, operation, or maintenance.
- Composite Technology.
A composite technology is the integration of several
elemental technologies. These component technologies each contribute in some
substantive way to the overall composite. The component technologies may or
may not have separate descriptions if they do, this is noted in the
description of the composite technology.
- Group of Technologies.
The document treats technologies as a group in three
cases, depending on whether or not the technologies within the group are
further distinguished and how the technologies differ from one another:
- The group as a whole has important and distinguishing characteristics that
make it worthy of consideration. But the document doesn't distinguish among
technologies within the group, because the internal, external, or usage
characteristics that distinguish them are unknown, inaccessible, proprietary,
insignificant, or irrelevant to the purposes of the document.
- Sometimes information is
necessary to make a decision about whether or not to use any technology within
the group, based on common characteristics of the technology group. In such
cases, it is prudent to first consider the technologies in the aggregate
before looking at individual technologies within the group.
- Non-competing technologies that nevertheless contribute to the same
application area are grouped together into a tutorial that describes how the
technologies can be applied in that particular context.
In any case, we define the group and describe common characteristics of the
group. In the case where members within the group are further distinguished
(in separate technology descriptions), we provide cross-references to those
technologies.
- Other Software Technology Topics.
There are certain issues of concern that
don't fit into the above categories, yet they are important to software
technology. These include certain high-level concepts, such as COTS, component
based development/integration, and open systems. In descriptions of these
topics, we point to (and explain the relationship to) related technologies.
The Software
Engineering Institute (SEI) is a federally funded research and
development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense
and operated by Carnegie Mellon University.
Copyright
2007
by Carnegie Mellon University
Terms of Use
URL: http://www.sei.cmu.edu/str/descriptions/categories.html
Last Modified: 11 January 2007
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