KobrA meets classic component technology

The KobrA method is an approach for component-based product line engineering that is complementary to classic component technologies (CCT) like COM+, CORBA, or Enterprise Java Beans. KobrA supports the abstraction and composition of components, as well as the definition of generic aspects across the lifecycle. In contrast, CCTs are only dealing with components and composition on the implementation and binary level. Thus, an integration of CCTs into KobrA will utilize the benefits of component technology. This paper describes the three main issues in successfully integrating KobrA and CCTs. First, it is discussed how CCTs can be transformed and integrated into KobrA. The goal being a KobrA framework which encompasses a complete product line. Second, the translation of a KobrA component into a CCT component is examined. Finally, the maintenance and evolution of such systems (i. e., to assure the consistency between KobrA components and the corresponding CCT components) is discussed.