Building Applications From Frameworks

Building applications from the business frameworks will be approached in several ways. The simplest of these is when it is possible to use the objects and classes in the frameworks without changing them. In this case, the developer will write client code that uses a factory object to manage access to the framework business objects. Access could be gained through a command supplied in the framework. For example, the factory would be used to manage a command (and the associated transaction) that would create, delete, or update a business object.

A second approach to developing applications using the frameworks is to change the frameworks by creating new domain classes from the base object model classes. This will most likely be done when a new business task or process is being added on top of the frameworks. Developers who make these types of changes will need to understand the methods and programming guidelines for creating, deleting, and updating frameworks objects. For example, they will need to understand how to use the factory methods which create and delete business objects. They would also need to understand how to build the command(s) which implement the new business task.

A third approach in using the frameworks is to change the frameworks by extending the supplied domain classes and methods. For example, it may be necessary to add additional attributes to a class, or to replace the logic in one of the methods. We worked closely with software vendors to identify the types of changes that will be necessary. We then designed the frameworks to make these types of changes easy, with as little impact to other parts of the frameworks as possible. Developers should understand and follow the application model of the base object classes to ensure consistency with unchanged parts of the frameworks.