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P. Peti:
"The Concepts behind Time, State, Component, and Interface - A Literature Survey";
2002.

The concepts of time, state, component, and interface are fundamental in computer science, but a lot of different approaches and definitions make a common view diffcult. The survey elaborates on the present definitions found in literature and tries to give an overview on the important subjects. The survey is divided into four parts, each dealing with one of the four terms and elucidates the interdependence of the concepts. At the beginning the difference between physical and virtual time is exemplified. This is followed by an overview of the meaning of state and the close relationship between these two terms. Due to the tremendous significance of component based engineering the concept of a component is presented next. Since components interact with the environment via interfaces the last part elaborates on interfaces. The survey is concluded by an appendix that contains the exact, unaltered formulation of the definitions used throughout the work.

http://www.vmars.tuwien.ac.at/php/pserver/extern/docdetail.php?DID=1047&viewmode=paper&year=2002