Filling a wide gap in the field of programming, this unique text covers the “other side” of component-based development—the development of the components themselves. Whereas other texts show students how to use pre-existing components, this text not only shows students how to develop a wide variety of components, but it also shows them how to divide an application into components and host-level coding. The student is lead through the principles of component-level design one step at a time. Chapter 1 sets the stage and defines terms. In Chapters 2 and 3 the student is introduced to component-level development with existing components and is also introduced to the major component technologies that are in use today. In Chapter 4 the student is shown how to divide an application into components, and how to fill the gaps in a design with custom components. This chapter introduces a component categorization scheme that simplifies the subdivision into components, and provides a straightforward development methodology for the difficult parts of a program. Chapter 5 introduces the student to component design and sets the stage for Chapters 6 through 18. Chapters 6 through 18 guide the student through the design of each category of component. Examples are used to motivate each of the separate design methodologies. Chapters 19 and 20 discuss general issues that are important in the design of components. Exercises are given at the end of each chapter.