11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising defining a hierarchy of component and relationship types.
11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising defining a hierarchy of component and relationship types. 14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the component types comprise a parent component type and a component subtype, wherein the component subtype is defined with respect to the parent component type, wherein the component subtype represents a specialized subgroup of the parent component type, and wherein when a component is instantiated from the component subtype, the component contains properties defined in the component subtype and the parent component type.