Book excerpt: Presenting the state of the art in component-based software testing, this cutting-edge resource offers you an in-depth understanding of the current issues, challenges, needs and solutions in this critical area. The book discusses the very latest advances in component-based testing and quality assurance in an accessible tutorial format, making the material easy to comprehend and benefit from no matter what your professional level. important, and how it differs from traditional software testing. From an introduction to software components, testing component-based software and validation methods for software components, to performance testing and measurement, standards and certification and verification of quality for component-based systems, you get a revealing snapshot of the key developments in this area, including important research findings. This volume also serves as a textbook for related courses at the advanced undergraduate or graduate level.