Espresso is the name of an advanced component technology developed by Faison Computing under a project sponsored by DARPA. Espresso components are self-describing entities, built on top of the JavaBeans component model. Espresso components are primarily built using visual programming concepts, and contain a map of their subcomponents. This map is displayed in the Espresso development environment, called EspressoMaker, so developers see which subcomponents make up a given component, and how they are connected together. The subcomponent interconnections are of particular interest, because the Espresso model allows component interfaces to be wired together simply by drawing a line between them. Along this interconnection, method calls can go in both directions. The interfaces themselves are described in a formal language, allowing EspressoMaker to verify that component interfaces are compatible with each other before connecting them together. Espresso components can range from simple 1-task blocks to complete applications. The Espresso technology includes a packaging methodology that allows software developers to locate Espresso components on the World Wide Web, and to download/install them into the EspressoMaker development environment with a single click
Click here for a quick overview of Espresso.
Click here for a more detailed introduction to Espresso.
Click here for a sample Espresso component Spec Sheet.