January 26, 1998 Sterling Adds Component Modeling Tool Product analyzes business rules By Rich Levin terling Software Inc. is making a bold bid to advance the state of component-based development with the introduction of Cool:Spex, the first tool specifically designed for modeling business components. The product, which became available last week, is also Sterling's first completely new offering since merging its applications development division with Texas Instruments Software, which Sterling acquired in April. Cool:Spex lets developers analyze business rules and convert them directly into interfaces for business components. This means development teams can build applications that are more closely aligned to actual business requirements. Once designed, these reusable parts can be assembled into enterprise-class component-based systems compatible with any object framework, such as Microsoft's COM, Object Management Group's Corba, or Sun Microsystems' Java. Sterling officials say the use of "interface engineering" differs radically from conventional object methods, such as computer-aided software engineering (CASE) or modern object-modeling approaches. "People who come from an information-engineering world think in terms of data and process, instead of behavior and roles and responsibilities," says Mike Jones, a product manager with Sterling, in Dallas. Early adopters of component-based architectures say traditional modeling tools have stymied their development efforts. "Interface diagramming models real life more [accurately]," says Maja Tibbling, manager of application architecture at Emery Worldwide, an international parcel delivery firm in Redwood City, Calif. Analysts agree that Sterling is breaking new ground. Says Neil Ward-Dutton, a senior analyst with Ovum Ltd. in London, "It addresses requirements not touched by other products in the component tools arena." Back to News in Review Send Us Your Feedback Top of the Page

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