1. A radio frequency identification (“RFID”) reader comprising: a hardware platform, the hardware platform including: a transceiver, the transceiver arranged to receive communication signals from at least one RFID tag; an input/output interface; a controller communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the input/output interface, the controller controlling operation of the RFID reader; and a memory communicatively coupled to the controller, the memory containing: a software development framework for developing a software application that is executable on the hardware platform, the framework including a plurality of predefined encapsulated functional components that interact with at least one of the transceiver and the input/output interface to allow the software application to operate in a manner that is independent of a specific embodiment of the RFID reader hardware platform.