Towards framework selection criteria and suitability for an application framework

In recent years, frameworks are very popular as they provide reusable solutions to very difficult problems. However, the number of frameworks for a given domain makes it difficult to select the most appropriate framework. Selecting the wrong framework or selecting a framework that has not yet matured can be disastrous for a project. The choice of an application framework can make or break a project. Unfortunately, the lack of formal criteria and metrics to objectively compare/contrast frameworks, assess the framework´s capabilities, and determine the framework´s suitability to a particular project, make framework selection extremely difficult. Very little research has been conducted on determining the suitability of a framework. This paper defines criteria that can be used at a high-level to understand a framework´s overall usefulness and at a low-level to understand the framework´s suitability to a particular domain. The defined criteria of our approach are then used to determine the suitability of using an example framework.