Sharing application logic across programming language boundaries

As network-enabled devices and computerized services become ubiquitous in a breadth of applications, it is imperative that distributed system architectures enable components to communicate effectively and efficiently in heterogeneous environments. Standardized application-level network protocols are currently the most popular communication solution but a significant amount of flexibility is then lost at the network boundary. We propose an interaction model for distributed systems that will allow application knowledge in the form of programming logic to be shared across platform and programming language boundaries. We define an XML-based meta-language for describing application logic which is not targeted toward any one specific programming language, environment, or machine stack (real or virtual). Distributed applications can use this specification to exchange logic such as the details of application-level protocols in heterogeneous environments at runtime. This removes the distributed system's dependency on standardized and generalized application-level protocols. Distributed systems can also exchange algorithmic solutions to specific problems (knowledge dissemination), removing the need for any network-based communications to a centralized server. These freedoms will ultimately enable a distributed system that is more efficient, scalable, and adaptable than the current state of the art.