In computer programming, a software framework is an abstraction in which software providing generic functionality can be selectively changed by additional user-written code, thus providing application-specific software. A software framework provides a standard way to build and deploy applications.

A software framework is a universal, reusable software environment that provides particular functionality as part of a larger software platform to facilitate development of software applications, products and solutions. Software frameworks may include support programs, compilers, code libraries, tool sets, and application programming interfaces (APIs) that bring together all the different components to enable development of a project or system.

Frameworks have key distinguishing features that separate them from normal libraries:

• inversion of control: In a framework, unlike in libraries or in standard user applications, the overall program's flow of control is not dictated by the caller, but by the framework.
• extensibility: A user can extend the framework - usually by selective overriding; or programmers can add specialized user code to provide specific functionality.
• non-modifiable framework code: The framework code, in general, is not supposed to be modified, while accepting user-implemented extensions. In other words, users can extend the framework, but should not modify its code.

Software frameworks typically contain considerable housekeeping and utility code in order to help bootstrap user applications, but generally focus on specific problem domains, such as:

• Ajax framework / JavaScript framework
• Web framework
• Middleware
• Application framework - General GUI applications
• Enterprise Architecture framework
• Oracle Application Development Framework
• OpenCV - A Computer Vision development framework

• Class (computer science)
• Design pattern (computer science)
• Don't repeat yourself
• Implicit invocation

Object-oriented programming Software architecture Software design patterns *

Software frameworks