WRITING computer software today is a laborious process. Each line of code must be individually written, compiled, tested, and then rewritten.
'Creating software is like creating individual art masterpieces,' said John Whalen, marketing manager of Hewlett-Packard's Enterprise Objects Program in the United States.
But theres no reason why software cannot be quickly and efficiently assembled from modular, interchangeable parts as in an automobile factory.
'Seventy per cent of software code is exactly the same,' Mr Whalen said.
He believed the 'software factory' of the not-so-distant future will create programs primarily with these pre-made building blocks - termed 'objects' in the computer world.
Mr Whalen was in town to help promote Hewlett-Packard's Object-Oriented Solution Centre in the United States.