Frameworks are skeletal or generic applications which can be fleshed out and customised into fully-fledged software programs. A mature framework saves a business many thousands of dollars in software development costs and can be re-used indefinitely. Corporations have paid as much as 8 million USD to develop proprietary frameworks, but frameworks - like patterns - are inherently open. They are the result of distilling industry-wide practice and experience, which is what makes them so hard to build Some frameworks are specific to languages, others to programming methods or particular kinds of data, and still others to industry domains. For instance, a chemical processing framework will look quite different from a telecommunications framework. This book covers domain frameworks in real world industries, and some of the biggest framework projects outside the research labs. Each chapter is built around an actual report from the implementation of a framework development or customization project, and there are approximately 30 such examples. The book is intended to document lessons learned and provide code for further research, with all examples described in detail and their designs explained in terms of application domains.
