Apache Avalon provides a complete platform for component programming including
a core framework, utilities, tools, components and containers. By using key
design patterns such as Inversion of Control (IoC) and Seperation of Concerns
(SoC), Avalon achieves a number of advantages over traditional object oriented
programming frameworks:

  * No implementation lock
  * Low coupling between components
  * Component lifecycle management
  * Configuration management and easy to use API
  * Component meta-data framework and tools
  * Service dependecy management
  * Embeddable containers for standalone, J2EE and web environments

The Avalon Framework API and Implementation consists of interfaces that define
relationships between commonly used application components, best-of-practice
pattern enforcements, and several lightweight convenience implementations of
the generic components.

WWW:	http://avalon.apache.org/framework/