I am searching for component frameworks for embedded systems, so this review arrived just in time for me. The authors provide a comprehensive survey of available frameworks without selecting one as “the best.” As they disclaim, there is no one-size-fits-all solution in this domain. As it turned out for me, not one of them fit my needs sufficiently to invest the requisite time.

Thirteen frameworks are included in the survey, and they’re evaluated from seven perspectives: component model, development features, deployment and configuration, maintenance and evolution, hardware issues, real time and embedded, and verification and validation. None of the frameworks were the best in all criteria; none were the worst in all criteria. Other attributes were explored along the way, too: open source versus commercial, ongoing versus abandoned, common object request broker architecture (CORBA) versus non-CORBA, and integrated development environment (IDE) versus command line. Source code examples are given where available. The authors put significant effort into this review, which spans more than 40 pages.

It’s obvious that this report is targeted at developers like me who are trying to find a framework to speed up embedded (Internet of Things) system development. However, I’m hoping it’s also read by framework providers. The fact that none of the reviewed frameworks could earn a glowing review will hopefully stimulate someone to do a better job. In fact, a commercial framework from ThingWorx that I found outside this survey is arguably better than the tools included herein. I would love to see some competition and evolution in this niche.