Glossary

Plugins

A unit of software whose purpose is to extend the functionality of an independent application at run-time. The application has no prior knowledge of the plugin; plugin must act as a "black-box" and present itself by means of a standard interface.

Components

  1. A component is an indivisible unit of independent deployment.

  2. A component is a unit of third-party composition.

  3. A component has no persistent state.

Shared libraries

a block of code, loaded on request, providing data types and procedures.

Middleware

A popular and generic term basically used to refer to software "that sits in the middle, connecting diverse (and usually preexisting) programs together". In other words, a separate product that acts as a glue between two applications.