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.