Editing Application framework (section)

{{Short description|Framework in computer software}}
{{See also|Software framework|Web framework}}
In [[computer programming]], an '''application framework'''<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www1.cse.wustl.edu/~schmidt/CACM-frameworks.html |title=Object Oriented Application Frameworks |access-date=2011-05-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515182503/http://www1.cse.wustl.edu/~schmidt/CACM-frameworks.html |archive-date=2018-05-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref> consists of a [[software framework]] used by [[software developer]]s to implement the standard structure of [[application software]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Mozilla_Application_Framework_in_Detail |title=Mozilla Application Framework in Detail |access-date=2011-05-29 |archive-date=2012-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728072046/https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Mozilla_Application_Framework_in_Detail |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Application frameworks became popular with the rise of [[graphical user interface]]s (GUIs), since these tended to promote a standard structure for applications. Programmers find it much simpler to create automatic GUI creation tools when using a standard framework, since this defines the underlying code structure of the application in advance. Developers usually use [[object-oriented programming]] (OOP) techniques to implement frameworks such that the unique parts of an application can simply inherit from classes extant in the framework.{{Citation needed|date=April 2007}}