Web services and web components

New trends in software development have proposed different interaction mechanisms for software applications. For instance, the Software as a Service (SaaS) model has defined a new delivery and access method, and installation and update processes in the user´s computer are not required, software is hosted in a server and can be used over Internet instead. Middleware platforms are required in SaaS frameworks in order to support software services. Currently, web applications are taking full advantages of SaaS benefits, because they can be delivered over Internet and developed according to a service model. However, web applications are still under a maturity process and a low degree of efficiency and reusability are achieved. This paper proposes a web service-based framework according to component software engineering (CBSE), with the aim of developing efficient and reusable web applications. Moreover, web services are the middleware technology that provides full accessibility for this type of components.