Quite often programmers develop the ability to write COM components but are still hazy about what COM really is. So let's make a one-line definition of COM. COM is a specification and a set of services that permit us to create applications that are language-independent, modular, object-oriented, distributed, customizable, and upgradable. Let us now take apart this definition word by word. COM is a specification The COM specification describes the standards that you need to follow in order to create COM components. This standard describes how components should look like and how they should behave. COM is a set of services The COM specification is backed up by a set of services or APIs. On Win32 platforms these services are provided as a part of the operating system in the form of a COM library. In other operating systems they are provided as a separate package. COM components are language-independent COM is a binary standard. The components can be written in any programming l