Component-based software development is associated with a shift from statement-oriented coding to system building by plugging together components. The idea is not new and some progress has been made over the past decades. Nevertheless, today's software development practice is still far away from the vision. In recent years, the term componentware became the vogue in the software engineering community. The paper attempts to define the relevant terms by relating the definitions to the already well-defined terms of object technology. In particular, the focus lies on a discussion of the deficiencies of the object-oriented paradigm and how componentware might solve these short comings.