Resumen
Software component technology has emerged as a key element in the development of complex software systems. As systems have grown larger, more complex and more interdependent, characteristics of cohesion and coupling have become important drivers in the design and deployment of these systems. While the concept of software components has been well known virtually since the beginning of software, practical aspects and challenges have been more fully evolved over time. For the purpose of this overview, the following definition of component will be used: "A software component is a physical packaging of executable software with a well defined and published interface." This abbreviated definition is formed from several other published definitions. For example component is defined as "a coherent package of software artifacts that can be independently developed and delivered as a unit and that can be composed, unchanged, with other components to build something larger." Software developers have long held the belief that complex systems can be built from smaller components, bound together by software that creates the unique behavior and forms of the system.