Component architecture of the Tecolote framework

Los Alamos National Laboratory`s Tecolote Framework is used in conjunction with other libraries by several physical simulations. This paper briefly describes the design and use of Tecolote`s component architecture. A component is a C++ class that meets several requirements imposed by the framework to increase its reusability, configurability, and ease of replacement. The authors discuss both the motives for imposing these requirements upon components and the means by which a generic C++ class may be integrated into Tecolote by satisfying these requirements. They also describe the means by which these components may be combined into a physics application