In computer programming, an application framework is a term usually used to refer to a set of libraries or classes that are used to implement the standard structure of an application for a specific operating system. By bundling a large amount of reusable code into a framework, much time is saved for the developer, since he/she is saved the task of rewriting large amounts of standard code for each new application that is developed. Application frameworks became popular with the rise of the graphical user interface (GUI), since these tended to promote a standard structure for applications. It is also much simpler to create automatic GUI creation tools when a standard framework is used, since the underlying code structure of the application is known in advance. Object-oriented programming techniques are usually used to implement frameworks such that the unique parts of an application can simply inherit from pre-existing classes in the framework. Computer programming (often simply programming) is the craft of implementing one or more interrelated abstract algorithms using a particular programming language to produce a concrete computer program. ... In computer science, a library is a collection of subprograms used to develop software. ... In object-oriented programming, a class consists of encapsulated instance variables and subprograms, the methods mentioned below. ... Application has the following meanings: In general, an application is using something abstract for a more concrete use. ... In computing, an operating system (OS) is the system software responsible for the direct control and management of hardware and basic system operations. ... An example of graphical user interface in Mac OS X A graphical user interface (or GUI, pronounced gooey) is a method of interacting with a computer through a metaphor of direct manipulation of graphical images and widgets in addition to text. ... Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a computer programming paradigm in which a software system is modeled as a set of objects that interact with each other. ...

One of the first commercial frameworks was MacApp, written by Apple Computer for the Macintosh. Originally written in an extended (object-oriented) version of Pascal, it was later rewritten in C++. Other popular frameworks for the Mac include Metrowerks Powerplant and MacZoop (all based on Carbon). A different approach to an application framework is Cocoa for Mac OS X. Free software frameworks exist as part of the Mozilla, OpenOffice.org, GNOME and KDE projects. MacApp was Apple Computers primary object oriented application framework for the Mac OS for much of the 1990s. ... Apple Computer, Inc. ... The box for Mac OS X v10. ... Pascal is one of the landmark computer programming languages on which generations of students cut their teeth and variants of which are still widely used today. ... C++ (pronounced see plus plus) is a general-purpose computer programming language. ... MacZoop is a popular application framework for the Apple Macintosh, based on Carbon. ... Carbon is the codename of Apple Computers APIs for the Macintosh operating system, which permits a good degree of backward compatibility between source code written to run on the classic Mac OS, and the newer Mac OS X. The APIs are published and accessed in the form of C... A Cocoa application being developed using Xcode. ... Mac OS X is the latest version of the Mac OS, the operating system software for Macintosh computers. ... Free software, as defined by Richard Stallman and his Free Software Foundation, can be used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed. ... Mozilla is a computer term that has had many different uses, though all of them have been related to Netscape Communications Corporation and its related application software. ... OpenOffice. ... GNOME (for GNU Network Object Model Environment) is a open source/free software computer desktop environment for Unix and Unix-like operating systems. ... KDE (K Desktop Environment) is a free desktop environment and development platform built with Trolltechs Qt toolkit. ...

Microsoft created a similar product for Windows called the Microsoft Foundation Classes or MFC. Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT) headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. ... Microsoft Windows is a range of operating environments for personal computers and servers. ... Microsoft Foundation Classes, or MFC, is a Microsoft library that wraps portions of the Windows API in C++ classes, forming an application framework. ...

There are also a number of frameworks which will create identical applications for both Macintosh and Windows from the same source code, such as the widget toolkits wxWidgets or FOX toolkit. In computer programming, widget toolkits (or GUI toolkits) are sets of basic building elements for graphical user interfaces. ... In computing, wxWidgets (formerly known as wxWindows) is an open source, cross-platform widget toolkit; that is, a library of basic elements for building a graphical user interface (GUI). ... In computing, the FOX toolkit is an open source, cross-platform widget toolkit, that is, a library of basic elements for building a graphical user interface (GUI). ...

See also

• Software framework
• Widget toolkit