Web mashups are Web applications developed using contents and services
available online. Despite rapidly increasing interest in mashups over the past
two years, comprehensive development tools and frameworks are lacking,
and in most cases mashing up a new application implies a significant manual
programming effort. This article overviews current tools, frameworks, and
trends that aim to facilitate mashup development. The authors use a set of
characteristic dimensions to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of some
representative approaches.