Software reuse is an important goal for every organization developing or using software. Recently, there has been progress on new ways to develop software popularly known as component based development (CBD). CBD is an approach to application development in which ready-made pieces of software are assembled together to enable the rapid construction of applications. The paper examines the role of appropriate new method's and tools in encouraging the wider practice of CBD. A new generation of methods and tools in CBD being developed by Sterling Software is described. As a counterpoint, the support for CBD in a leading UML class-based OOA/D tool is also compared and contrasted.