Abstract: A component-based, rapid application development (RAD) Java system providing visual designers (i.e., wizards) and methodology allowing a developer (user) to create Java Beans-compatible components rapidly and easily is described. In typical operation of the system, the user may generate a “bean” component by invoking a wizard-based interface that implements methodology for automatically generating and managing the bean. The user employs the wizard to specify information about the bean, such as the name of the bean, the package it will be in, and the class it extends from. In response to the user input, the system creates a bean with the name the user specified, places it in the user's current project, and displays the source code generated for the bean.