Application Frameworks

An application framework is a class library which implements a reusable architecture or platform for a series of similar applications.

Ordinary class libraries can be seen as tools for code reuse, while frameworks are tools for reuse of design and architectures.

There are application frameworks for Microsoft Windows applications, UNIX/Motif applications, Drawing Editors, Telecom systems, Process Control systems etc.

By using object-oriented techniques, such as inheritance, dynamic binding and composition, the classes in the framework are adapted to the desired behaviour of individual applications.

Don't call the framework - it will call you!

In a conventional class or function library, the code that the developer writes calls functions in the library. In a framework, however, it is common that the framework calls standardized methods that the developer supplies, known as "call-backs".

In this way, the developer can be relieved from managing the ordering of events in an application.