Book excerpt: Object orientation has become a ?must know? subject for managers, researchers, and software practitioners interested in the design, evolution, reuse and management of efficient software components.The book contains technical papers reflecting both theoretical and practical contributions from researchers in the field of object-oriented (OO) databases and software engineering systems. The book identifies actual and potential areas of integration of OO and database technologies, current and future research directions in software methodologies, and reflections about the OO paradigm.In providing current research and relevant information about this promising and rapidly growing field of object-oriented databases and software engineering systems, this book is invaluable to research scientists, practitioners, and graduate students working in the areas of databases and software engineering.