Patent Publication Number: US-2023147225-A1

Title: Data Object Preparation for Execution of Multiple Task Routine Instances in Many Task Computing

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/733,196 filed Apr. 29, 2022; which is a continuation of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/733,090 filed Apr. 29, 2022; which is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/682,783 filed Feb. 28, 2022; which is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/563,697 filed Dec. 28, 2021; which is a continuation of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/558,237 filed Dec. 21, 2021; which is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/308,355 filed May 5, 2021 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,204,809); which is a continuation of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/225,023 filed Apr. 7, 2021 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,169,788); which is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/139,364 filed Dec. 31, 2020 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,144,293; which is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/064,577 filed Oct. 6, 2020 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,080,031); which is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/814,481 filed Mar. 10, 2020 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,795,935); which is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/708,179 filed Dec. 9, 2019 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,740,076); which is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/587,965 filed Sep. 30, 2019 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,650,046); which is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/556,573 filed Aug. 30, 2019 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,650,045); which is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/539,222 filed Aug. 13, 2019 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,649,750); which is a continuation of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/538,734 filed Aug. 12, 2019 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,642,896); which is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/223,518 filed Dec. 18, 2018 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,380,185); which is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/205,424 filed Nov. 30, 2018 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,346,476); which is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/897,723 filed Feb. 15, 2018 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,331,495); all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties for all purposes. 
     U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/538,734 is also a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/236,401 filed Dec. 29, 2018 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,409,863); which is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/039,745 filed Jul. 19, 2018 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,360,069); which is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, the aforementioned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/897,723; all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties for all purposes. 
     U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/897,723 is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/896,613 filed Feb. 14, 2018 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,002,029); which is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/851,869 filed Dec. 22, 2017 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,078,710); which is a continuation of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/613,516 filed Jun. 5, 2017 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,852,013); which is a continuation of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/425,886 filed Feb. 6, 2017 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,684,544); which is a continuation of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/425,749 also filed on Feb. 6, 2017 (since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,684,543); all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties for all purposes. 
     This application also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/336,771 filed Apr. 22, 2022, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/733,090 also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/185,570 filed May 7, 2021, and to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/252,070 filed Oct. 4, 2021, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties for all purposes. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/682,783 also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/157,419 filed Mar. 5, 2021, to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/159,428 filed Mar. 10, 2021, to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/185,570 filed May 7, 2021, and to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/252,070 filed Oct. 4, 2021, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties for all purposes. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/558,237 also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/139,703 filed Jan. 20, 2021, to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/157,419 filed Mar. 5, 2021, and to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/159,428 filed Mar. 10, 2021, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties for all purposes. Both U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/225,023 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/139,364 also claim the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/006,516 filed Apr. 7, 2020, to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/008,830 filed Apr. 13, 2020, to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/015,274 filed Apr. 24, 2020, and to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/029,989 filed May 26, 2020, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties for all purposes. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/064,577 also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/972,240 filed Feb. 10, 2020, and to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/985,455 filed Mar. 5, 2020, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties for all purposes. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/814,481 also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/816,160 filed Mar. 10, 2019, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/708,179 also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/776,691 filed Dec. 7, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/587,965 also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/739,314 filed Sep. 30, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/556,573 also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/725,186 filed Aug. 30, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/538,734 also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/717,873 filed Aug. 12, 2018, and to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/801,173 filed Feb. 5, 2019, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties for all purposes. 
     U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/223,518 also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/654,643 filed Apr. 9, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/205,424 also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/631,462 filed Feb. 15, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. 
     U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/236,401 also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/689,040 filed Jun. 22, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/039,745 also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/534,678 filed Jul. 19, 2017, and to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/560,506 filed Sep. 19, 2017, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties for all purposes. 
     U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/896,613 also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/460,000 filed Feb. 16, 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/425,749 also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/292,078 filed Feb. 5, 2016, and to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/297,454 filed Feb. 19, 2016, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties for all purposes. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Distributed development and execution of task routines using pooled task routines with pooled data has advanced to an extent that the addition of mechanisms for organization of development and to provide oversight for reproducibility and accountability have become increasingly desired. In various scientific, technical and other areas, the quantities of data employed in performing analysis tasks have become ever larger, thereby making desirable the pooling of data objects to enable collaboration, share costs and/or improve access. Also, such large quantities of data, by virtue of the amount and detail of the information they contain, have become of such value that it has become desirable to find as many uses as possible for such data in peer reviewing and in as wide a variety of analysis tasks as possible. Thus, the pooling of components of analysis routines to enable reuse, oversight and error checking has also become desirable. 
     Also, the increasingly predominant use of centralized distributed computing resources, including processing resources, storage and/or communications resources, has caused greater precision in the allocation of such resources to become increasingly desired. The approach of dedicating the resources of computing devices to remaining open and available for use by particular users and/or for particular purposes, regardless of degree of actual use such that those resources are frequently unused, has given way to the approach of more widely pooling and dynamically allocating and re-allocating even relatively small portions of such resources to many different users and/or for many different purposes. Thus, the ability to preemptively specify resource needs at a more granular level, and/or the ability to detect and address computational job failures at a more granular level has also become desirable. 
     SUMMARY 
     This summary is not intended to identify only key or essential features of the described subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation to determine the scope of the described subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification of this patent, any or all drawings, and each claim. 
     An apparatus includes at least one processor and a storage to store instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations including: receive, at the at least one processor, and from a requesting device via a network, a request to perform a job flow comprising a set of tasks; and within a performance container, the at least one processor is caused to output a first task routine execution request message. Within a first task container, and in response to the first task routine execution request message, the at least one processor is also caused to perform operations of a first task including, access a first data object within at least one federated area to determine whether the first data object is already divided into a first set of data object blocks, and in response to a determination that the first data object is not already divided, perform operations including: analyze the first data object to determine a size of the first data object; analyze a data structure by which data values are organized within the first data object to identify an atomic unit of storage of data values within the data structure, and to determine a size of the atomic unit; based on at least the size of the first data object, the size of the atomic unit, and storage resources allocated to task containers, determine a quantity of data object blocks into which to divide the first data object; divide the first data object into the quantity of data object blocks to generate the first set of data object blocks; and output a first task completion message comprising a first set of data block identifiers, wherein each data block identifier of the first set of data block identifiers indicates a location within the at least one federated area at which a different data object block of the first set of data object blocks is stored. Within the performance container, and in response to the first task completion message, the at least one processor is caused to output a first set of task routine execution request messages to cause a second task to be performed by executing multiple instances of a task routine within multiple task containers at least partially in parallel, wherein: each task routine execution request message of the first set of task routine execution request messages includes a different data block identifier of the first set of data block identifiers to cause the at least one processor to execute each instance of the task routine using a different data object block of the first set of data object blocks as an input. 
     A computer-program product tangibly embodied in a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium includes instructions operable to cause at least one processor to perform operations including: receive, at the at least one processor, and from a requesting device via a network, a request to perform a job flow comprising a set of tasks; and within a performance container, the at least one processor is caused to output a first task routine execution request message. Within a first task container, and in response to the first task routine execution request message, the at least one processor is also caused to perform operations of a first task including, access a first data object within at least one federated area to determine whether the first data object is already divided into a first set of data object blocks, and in response to a determination that the first data object is not already divided, perform operations including: analyze the first data object to determine a size of the first data object; analyze a data structure by which data values are organized within the first data object to identify an atomic unit of storage of data values within the data structure, and to determine a size of the atomic unit; based on at least the size of the first data object, the size of the atomic unit, and storage resources allocated to task containers, determine a quantity of data object blocks into which to divide the first data object; divide the first data object into the quantity of data object blocks to generate the first set of data object blocks; and output a first task completion message comprising a first set of data block identifiers, wherein each data block identifier of the first set of data block identifiers indicates a location within the at least one federated area at which a different data object block of the first set of data object blocks is stored. Within the performance container, and in response to the first task completion message, the at least one processor is caused to output a first set of task routine execution request messages to cause a second task to be performed by executing multiple instances of a task routine within multiple task containers at least partially in parallel, wherein: each task routine execution request message of the first set of task routine execution request messages includes a different data block identifier of the first set of data block identifiers to cause the at least one processor to execute each instance of the task routine using a different data object block of the first set of data object blocks as an input. 
     Within the first task container, and in response to a determination that the first data object is already divided into the first set of data object blocks, the at least one processor may be caused to perform operations including: retrieve the first set of data block identifiers from the at least one federated area; and output the first task completion message comprising the first set of data block identifiers. 
     Prior to receiving the request to perform the job flow, the at least one processor may be caused to perform operations including receive, at the at least one processor, and from another requesting device via the network, an earlier request to store the first data object within the at least one federated area, compare the size of the first data object to a threshold size associated with a limitation imposed on data objects stored within the at least one federated area, and in response to a determination that the size of the first data object is larger than the threshold size, perform operations including: analyze the first data object to determine whether the first data object is in a distributable form in which data values within the first data object are organized into a single homogeneous data structure; in response to a determination that the first data object is not in distributable form, reorganize the data values within the first data object into a single homogenous data structure to convert the first data object into distributable form; with the first data object in distributable form, divide the first data object into the first set of data object blocks; and store the first set of data object blocks within the at least one federated area at locations indicated by the first set of data block identifiers. 
     At a time prior to receiving the request to perform the job flow, the first data object may have been generated in distributed form as the first set of data object blocks as an output of a performance of another task of another job flow. 
     Dividing the first data object into the quantity of data objects may include the at least one processor performing operations within the first task container to define the first set of data object blocks as overlying the first data object as already stored within the at least one federated area, the operations including: determine a quantity of atomic units of storage of data values within the data structure to allocate to each data object block of the first set of data object blocks; based on at least the quantity of atomic units per data object block, determine each location within the data structure at which to define a division between two adjacent atomic units that defines a boundary between two adjacent data object blocks of the first set of data object blocks; identify where each boundary between two adjacent data object blocks is located within the first data object as already stored within the at least one federated area as a single undivided data object; and generate the first set of data block identifiers to indicate the location within the at least one federated area at which the first data object begins, and to indicate each location within the at least one federated area of a boundary between two adjacent data object blocks of the first set of data object blocks. 
     Dividing the first data object into the quantity of data objects may include the at least one processor performing operations within the first task container to store the first data object within the at least one federated area separately from the first data object as already stored within the at least one federated area, the operations including: determine a quantity of atomic units of storage of data values within the data structure to allocate to each data object block of the first set of data object blocks; based on at least the quantity of atomic units per data object block, determine each location within the data structure at which to define a division between two adjacent atomic units that defines a boundary between two adjacent data object blocks of the first set of data object blocks; and store the first set of data object blocks within the at least one federated area at locations indicated by the first set of data block identifiers, wherein the locations indicated by the first set of data block identifiers do not overlie the location at which the first data object is already stored as a single undivided object. 
     A third task of the set of tasks of the job flow may combine a second set of data object blocks of a second data object in distributed form to generate an undivided single object form of the second data object as an output. Within the performance container, the at least one processor may be caused to output a second task routine execution request message to cause the third task to be performed, wherein: the second task routine execution request message includes a second set of data block identifiers that indicate locations at which the second set of data object blocks are stored within the at least one federated area. Within a second task container, the at least one processor is caused to perform operations of the third task including: use the second set of data block identifiers included in the second task routine execution request message to retrieve the second set of data object blocks; combine the second set of data object blocks to generate the second data object as a single undivided data object; and store the second data object in the at least one federated area. 
     The second task may use the first data object as an input to generate a second data object as an output. Within each task container of the multiple task containers, and in response to one of the task routine execution request messages of the first set of task routine execution request messages, the at least one processor may be caused to perform operations of the second task including: use the data block identifier included in the one of the task routine execution request messages to retrieve a corresponding data object block of the first set of data object blocks; execute a corresponding instance of the task routine of the multiple instances of the task routine to use the retrieved data object block of the first set of data object blocks as an input to generate a corresponding data object block of a second set of data object blocks of the second data object as an output; store the output data object block of the second set of data object blocks within the at least one federated area at a location indicated by a data block identifier of a second set of data block identifiers; and output a task completion message of a first set of task completion messages comprising the data block identifier of the second set of data block identifiers. 
     A third task of the set of tasks of the job flow may use the second data object as an input. Within the performance container, and in response to a single task completion message of the first set of task completion messages output from a single task container of the multiple task containers in which the second task is performed, the at least one processor may be caused to perform operations including: provide an indication to the single task container to await output of another task routine execution request message directed to the single task container to cause another task to be performed within the single task container; and output, to the single task container, a task routine execution request message of a second set of task routine execution request messages to cause the third task to be performed within the single task container using the data object block of the second set of data object blocks, wherein the single task routine execution request message includes the data block identifier that is included in the single task completion message. Within the single task container, and in response to the single task routine execution message, the at least one processor may be caused to perform operations of the third task including: execute an instance of a third task routine of multiple instances of the third task routine to use the data object block of the second set of data object blocks that was generated within the single task container as an input; and output a task completion message of a second set of task completion messages to indicate completion of the third task within the single task container. 
     The job flow may be defined in a job flow definition that specifies a set of tasks to be performed by executing a corresponding set of task routines, and that specifies data dependencies among the set of tasks; the set of tasks may include the first task and the second task; and the job flow definition, the set of tasks and the first data object may be stored within the at least one federated area. Within the performance container, the at least one processor may be caused to perform operations including: derive an order of performance of the set of tasks based on the data dependencies among the set of tasks; and output the first task routine execution request message to cause the performance of the first task, and output the first set of task routine execution request messages to cause the performance of the second task based on the order of performance of the set of tasks. 
     A computer-implemented method includes receiving, by at the at least one processor, and from a requesting device via a network, a request to perform a job flow comprising a set of tasks; and within a performance container, outputting a first task routine execution request message. The method also includes, within a first task container, and in response to the first task routine execution request message, performing operations of a first task including accessing a first data object within at least one federated area to determine, by the at least one processor, whether the first data object is already divided into a first set of data object blocks, and in response to a determination that the first data object is not already divided, performing operations including: analyzing, by the at least one processor, the first data object to determine a size of the first data object; analyzing, by the at least one processor, a data structure by which data values are organized within the first data object to identify an atomic unit of storage of data values within the data structure, and to determine a size of the atomic unit; based on at least the size of the first data object, the size of the atomic unit, and storage resources allocated to task containers, determining, by the at least one processor, a quantity of data object blocks into which to divide the first data object; dividing the first data object into the quantity of data object blocks to generate the first set of data object blocks; and outputting a first task completion message comprising a first set of data block identifiers, wherein each data block identifier of the first set of data block identifiers indicates a location within the at least one federated area at which a different data object block of the first set of data object blocks is stored. The method further includes, within the performance container, and in response to the first task completion message, outputting a first set of task routine execution request messages to cause a second task to be performed by executing multiple instances of a task routine within multiple task containers at least partially in parallel, wherein: each task routine execution request message of the first set of task routine execution request messages includes a different data block identifier of the first set of data block identifiers to cause the at least one processor to execute each instance of the task routine using a different data object block of the first set of data object blocks as an input. 
     The method may further include, within the first task container, and in response to a determination that the first data object is already divided into the first set of data object blocks, performing operations including: retrieving the first set of data block identifiers from the at least one federated area; and outputting the first task completion message comprising the first set of data block identifiers. 
     The method may further include, prior to receiving the request to perform the job flow, performing operations including, receiving, at the at least one processor, and from another requesting device via the network, an earlier request to store the first data object within the at least one federated area, comparing, by the at least one processor, the size of the first data object to a threshold size associated with a limitation imposed on data objects stored within the at least one federated area, and in response to a determination that the size of the first data object is larger than the threshold size, performing operations including: analyzing, by the at least one processor, the first data object to determine whether the first data object is in a distributable form in which data values within the first data object are organized into a single homogeneous data structure; in response to a determination that the first data object is not in distributable form, reorganizing, by the at least one processor, the data values within the first data object into a single homogenous data structure to convert the first data object into distributable form; with the first data object in distributable form, dividing, by the at least one processor, the first data object into the first set of data object blocks; and storing the first set of data object blocks within the at least one federated area at locations indicated by the first set of data block identifiers. 
     The method may further include, at a time prior to receiving the request to perform the job flow, generating the first data object in distributed form as the first set of data object blocks as an output of a performance of another task of another job flow. 
     Dividing the first data object into the quantity of data objects may include performing operations within the first task container to define the first set of data object blocks as overlying the first data object as already stored within the at least one federated area, the operations including: determining, by the at least one processor, a quantity of atomic units of storage of data values within the data structure to allocate to each data object block of the first set of data object blocks; based on at least the quantity of atomic units per data object block, determining, by the at least one processor, each location within the data structure at which to define a division between two adjacent atomic units that defines a boundary between two adjacent data object blocks of the first set of data object blocks; identifying, by the at least one processor, where each boundary between two adjacent data object blocks is located within the first data object as already stored within the at least one federated area as a single undivided data object; and generating, by the at least one processor, the first set of data block identifiers to indicate the location within the at least one federated area at which the first data object begins, and to indicate each location within the at least one federated area of a boundary between two adjacent data object blocks of the first set of data object blocks. 
     Dividing the first data object into the quantity of data objects may include performing operations within the first task container to store the first data object within the at least one federated area separately from the first data object as already stored within the at least one federated area, the operations including: determining, by the at least one processor, a quantity of atomic units of storage of data values within the data structure to allocate to each data object block of the first set of data object blocks; based on at least the quantity of atomic units per data object block, determining, by the at least one processor, each location within the data structure at which to define a division between two adjacent atomic units that defines a boundary between two adjacent data object blocks of the first set of data object blocks; and storing the first set of data object blocks within the at least one federated area at locations indicated by the first set of data block identifiers, wherein the locations indicated by the first set of data block identifiers do not overlie the location at which the first data object is already stored as a single undivided object. 
     A third task of the set of tasks of the job flow may combine a second set of data object blocks of a second data object in distributed form to generate an undivided single object form of the second data object as an output. The method may further include, within the performance container, outputting a second task routine execution request message to cause the third task to be performed, wherein: the second task routine execution request message includes a second set of data block identifiers that indicate locations at which the second set of data object blocks are stored within the at least one federated area. The method may still further include, within a second task container, performing operations of the third task including: using the second set of data block identifiers included in the second task routine execution request message to retrieve the second set of data object blocks; combining, by the at least one processor, the second set of data object blocks to generate the second data object as a single undivided data object; and storing the second data object in the at least one federated area. 
     The second task may use the first data object as an input to generate a second data object as an output, and the method may further include, within each task container of the multiple task containers, and in response to one of the task routine execution request messages of the first set of task routine execution request messages, performing operations of the second task including: using the data block identifier included in the one of the task routine execution request messages to retrieve a corresponding data object block of the first set of data object blocks; executing, by the at least one processor, a corresponding instance of the task routine of the multiple instances of the task routine to use the retrieved data object block of the first set of data object blocks as an input to generate a corresponding data object block of a second set of data object blocks of the second data object as an output; storing the output data object block of the second set of data object blocks within the at least one federated area at a location indicated by a data block identifier of a second set of data block identifiers; and outputting a task completion message of a first set of task completion messages comprising the data block identifier of the second set of data block identifiers. 
     A third task of the set of tasks of the job flow may use the second data object as an input. The method may further include, within the performance container, and in response to a single task completion message of the first set of task completion messages output from a single task container of the multiple task containers in which the second task is performed, performing operations including: providing an indication to the single task container to await output of another task routine execution request message directed to the single task container to cause another task to be performed within the single task container; and outputting, to the single task container, a task routine execution request message of a second set of task routine execution request messages to cause the third task to be performed within the single task container using the data object block of the second set of data object blocks, wherein: the single task routine execution request message includes the data block identifier that is included in the single task completion message. The method may still further include, within the single task container, and in response to the single task routine execution message, performing operations of the third task including: executing, by the at least one processor, an instance of a third task routine of multiple instances of the third task routine to use the data object block of the second set of data object blocks that was generated within the single task container as an input; and outputting a task completion message of a second set of task completion messages to indicate completion of the third task within the single task container. 
     The job flow may be defined in a job flow definition that specifies a set of tasks to be performed by executing a corresponding set of task routines, and that specifies data dependencies among the set of tasks; the set of tasks may include the first task and the second task; and the job flow definition, the set of tasks and the first data object may be stored within the at least one federated area. The method may further include, within the performance container, performing operations including: deriving, by the at least one processor, an order of performance of the set of tasks based on the data dependencies among the set of tasks; and outputting the first task routine execution request message to cause the performance of the first task, and output the first set of task routine execution request messages to cause the performance of the second task based on the order of performance of the set of tasks. 
     An apparatus includes at least one processor and a storage to store instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations including: receive, at the at least one processor, and from a requesting device via a network, a request to perform a job flow including a set of tasks; and within a performance container, the at least one processor is caused to output a first task execution request message onto a group sub-queue of a task queue to convey, to a set of task containers sharing access to the group sub-queue, a request to execute a first task routine to perform a first task of the set of tasks. The at least one processor is also caused to, within a first task container of the set of task containers, and in response to the output of the first task execution request message onto the group sub-queue, the at least one processor is caused to perform operations of the first task including: accede to executing the first task routine by outputting a first task in-progress message onto a first individual sub-queue of the task queue, wherein access to the first individual sub-queue is not shared with other task containers; execute the first task routine to generate at least one portion of a data object as part of performing the first task; store the at least one portion of the data object within at least one federated area; and output a first task completion message onto the first individual sub-queue of the task queue. The at least one processor is further caused to, within the performance container, and in response to the output of the first task completion message onto the first individual sub-queue, the at least one processor is caused to perform operations including: determine, based on data dependencies among the set of tasks, whether a second task of the set of tasks uses the at least one portion of the data object as an input; and in response to a determination that the second task uses the at least one portion of the data object as an input, perform operations including, while allowing the first task completion message to remain on the first individual sub-queue to cause the first task container to refrain from acceding to executing another task routine from another task routine execution request message on the group sub-queue, output a second task execution request message onto the first individual sub-queue to cause execution of a second task routine within the first task container to perform the second task using a buffered copy of the at least one portion of the data object as input, and in response to output of a second task in-progress message onto the first individual sub-queue from the first task container to accede to executing the second task routine, de-queue the first task completion message. 
     A computer-program product tangibly embodied in a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium includes instructions operable to cause at least one processor to perform operations including: receive, at the at least one processor, and from a requesting device via a network, a request to perform a job flow including a set of tasks; and within a performance container, the at least one processor is caused to output a first task execution request message onto a group sub-queue of a task queue to convey, to a set of task containers sharing access to the group sub-queue, a request to execute a first task routine to perform a first task of the set of tasks. The at least one processor is also caused to, within a first task container of the set of task containers, and in response to the output of the first task execution request message onto the group sub-queue, the at least one processor is caused to perform operations of the first task including: accede to executing the first task routine by outputting a first task in-progress message onto a first individual sub-queue of the task queue, wherein access to the first individual sub-queue is not shared with other task containers; execute the first task routine to generate at least one portion of a data object as part of performing the first task; store the at least one portion of the data object within at least one federated area; and output a first task completion message onto the first individual sub-queue of the task queue. The at least one processor is further caused to, within the performance container, and in response to the output of the first task completion message onto the first individual sub-queue, the at least one processor is caused to perform operations including: determine, based on data dependencies among the set of tasks, whether a second task of the set of tasks uses the at least one portion of the data object as an input; and in response to a determination that the second task uses the at least one portion of the data object as an input, perform operations including, while allowing the first task completion message to remain on the first individual sub-queue to cause the first task container to refrain from acceding to executing another task routine from another task routine execution request message on the group sub-queue, output a second task execution request message onto the first individual sub-queue to cause execution of a second task routine within the first task container to perform the second task using a buffered copy of the at least one portion of the data object as input, and in response to output of a second task in-progress message onto the first individual sub-queue from the first task container to accede to executing the second task routine, de-queue the first task completion message. 
     Within the performance container, and in response to a determination that the second task routine does not use the at least one portion of the data object as input, the at least one processor may be caused to de-queue the first task completion message from the first individual sub-queue to enable the first task container to accede to executing another task routine from another task routine execution request message on the group sub-queue. 
     Each task container of the set of task containers may be of a first type that supports executions of multiple instances of task routines at least partially in parallel; the data object may be generated in a distributed form as a set of data object blocks during executions of multiple instances of the first task routine across multiple task containers of the set of task containers, including the execution of the first task routine within the first task container; the at least one portion of the data object generated during the execution of the first task routine within the first task container may include a first data object block of the set of data object blocks; and within the performance container, the at least one processor may be caused to output a third task execution request message onto the group sub-queue to convey, to the set of task containers, a request to execute the first task routine to perform the first task to generate a second data object block of the set of data object blocks. Within a second task container of the set of task containers, and in response to the output of the third task execution request message onto the group sub-queue, the at least one processor may be caused to perform operations of the first task including: accede to executing the first task routine requested in the third task routine execution request message by outputting a third task in-progress message onto a second individual sub-queue of the task queue, wherein access to the second individual sub-queue is not shared with other task containers; and execute the first task routine to generate the second data object block as part of performing the first task. 
     Each task container of the set of task containers may be of a first type that supports executions of multiple instances of task routines at least partially in parallel; and within the performance container, the at least one processor may be caused to output a third task execution request message onto the group sub-queue to convey, to the set of task containers, a request to execute the first task routine to perform the first task to generate a second data object block of the set of data object blocks. Within the first task container, and in response to the output of the second task execution request message onto the first individual sub-queue, the at least one processor may be caused to perform operations of the second task including: accede to executing the second task routine by outputting the second task in-progress message onto the first individual sub-queue of the task queue; execute the second task routine using the first data object block as an input as part of performing the second task; and output a second task completion message onto the first individual sub-queue of the task queue. Within the performance container, and in response to the output of the second task completion message onto the first individual sub-queue, the at least one processor may be caused to perform operations including: determine, based on the data dependencies among the set of tasks, whether there is another task of the set of tasks that uses data output by the second task as an input; and in response to a determination that there is not another task that uses data output by the second task as an input, de-queue the second task completion message from the first individual sub-queue to enable the first task container to accede to executing another task routine from another task routine execution request message on the group sub-queue. Within the first task container, in response to the de-queuing of the second task completion message, and in response to the output of the third task execution request message onto the group sub-queue, the at least one processor may be caused to perform further operations of the first task including: accede to executing the first task routine that is requested in the third task routine execution request message by outputting a third task in-progress message onto the first individual sub-queue; and execute the first task routine to generate the second data object block as part of performing the first task. 
     Each task container of the set of task containers may be of a first type that supports executions of multiple instances of task routines at least partially in parallel; the at least one processor may execute instructions of a resource allocation routine to cause the at least one processor to dynamically allocate multiple containers based on availability of at least one of processing resources and storage resources; and within the performance container, and in response to commencement of performance of the first task, the at least one processor may be caused to provide, to the resource allocation routine, an indication of at least one of a need for provision of more task containers of the first type or a need for provision of fewer task containers of a second type that supports executions of single instances of task routines. 
     The task queue may be allocated to convey just messages associated with the execution of multiple instances of task routines by the first type of task container; and another task queue may be allocated to convey just messages associated with the execution of single instances of task routines by a second type of task container. 
     Data objects may be stored within the at least one federated area in a format that is associated with syntax of a first programming language in which at least a subset of task routines are written. The first task container may provide a memory space within the first task container to support exchanging a data object generated in a format that is associated with syntax of a second programming language between two task routines written in the second programming language. Within the first task container, and in response to the first task routine being written in the second programming language, the at least one processor may be caused to perform operations including: convert the at least one portion of the first data object into the format associated with the syntax of the first programming language for storage within the at least one federated area, and for being buffered within the device in which the first task container is maintained; store another copy of the at least one portion of the first data object, as generated by execution of the first task routine in the format associated with the syntax of the second programming language, within the memory space; and in response to the first task container being caused to execute the second task routine immediately after the execution of the first task routine, and in response to the second task routine also being written in the second programming language, use the copy of the at least one portion of the first data object, as stored in the memory space, as an input to the second task routine. 
     Within the first task container, in response to the first task routine being written in the second programming language, in response to the first task container being caused to execute the second task routine immediately after the execution of the first task routine, and in response to the second task routine being written in the first programming language, the at least one processor may be caused to use the buffered copy of the at least one portion of the first data object as an input to the second task routine. 
     The job flow may be defined in a job flow definition that specifies a set of tasks to be performed by executing a corresponding set of task routines, and that specifies data dependencies among the set of tasks; the set of tasks may include the first task and the second task; the task queue may include the group sub-queue, and a set of individual sub-queues; the set of individual sub-queues may include the first individual sub-queue; and each individual sub-queue of the set of individual sub-queues may be accessible to a different task container of the set of task containers to provide each task container of the set of task containers with a path of communication with the performance container that is not shared with any other task container. 
     The group sub-queue may be maintained throughout at least the performance of the job flow; the first individual sub-queue may be newly instantiated each time the first task container accedes to executing a task routine that is requested in a task routine execution request message that is output onto the group sub-queue; acceding to executing the first task routine may include instantiating the first individual sub-queue before outputting the first task in-progress message onto the first individual sub-queue; and in response to the determination that the second task does not use the at least one portion of the first data object as an input, and in response to de-queuing of the first task completion message from the first individual sub-queue, the at least one processor may be caused to uninstantiate the first individual sub-queue. 
     A computer-implemented method includes: receiving, at the at least one processor, and from a requesting device via a network, a request to perform a job flow comprising a set of tasks; and within a performance container, outputting a first task execution request message onto a group sub-queue of a task queue to convey, to a set of task containers sharing access to the group sub-queue, a request to execute a first task routine to perform a first task of the set of tasks. The method also includes, within a first task container of the set of task containers, and in response to the output of the first task execution request message onto the group sub-queue, performing operations of the first task including: acceding to executing the first task routine by outputting a first task in-progress message onto a first individual sub-queue of the task queue, wherein access to the first individual sub-queue is not shared with other task containers; executing, by the at least one processor, the first task routine to generate at least one portion of a data object as part of performing the first task; storing the at least one portion of the data object within at least one federated area; and outputting a first task completion message onto the first individual sub-queue of the task queue. The method further includes, within the performance container, and in response to the output of the first task completion message onto the first individual sub-queue, performing operations including: determining, by the at least one processor, and based on data dependencies among the set of tasks, whether a second task of the set of tasks uses the at least one portion of the data object as an input; and in response to a determination, by the at least one processor, that the second task uses the at least one portion of the data object as an input, performing operations including, while allowing the first task completion message to remain on the first individual sub-queue to cause the first task container to refrain from acceding to executing another task routine from another task routine execution request message on the group sub-queue, outputting a second task execution request message onto the first individual sub-queue to cause execution of a second task routine within the first task container to perform the second task using a buffered copy of the at least one portion of the data object as input, and in response to output of a second task in-progress message onto the first individual sub-queue from the first task container to accede to executing the second task routine, de-queuing the first task completion message. 
     The method may further include, within the performance container, and in response to a determination, by the at least one processor, that the second task routine does not use the at least one portion of the data object as input, de-queuing the first task completion message from the first individual sub-queue to enable the first task container to accede to executing another task routine from another task routine execution request message on the group sub-queue. 
     Each task container of the set of task containers may be of a first type that supports executions of multiple instances of task routines at least partially in parallel; the data object may be generated in a distributed form as a set of data object blocks during executions of multiple instances of the first task routine across multiple task containers of the set of task containers, including the execution of the first task routine within the first task container; and the at least one portion of the data object generated during the execution of the first task routine within the first task container may include a first data object block of the set of data object blocks. The method may further include: within the performance container, outputting a third task execution request message onto the group sub-queue to convey, to the set of task containers, a request to execute the first task routine to perform the first task to generate a second data object block of the set of data object blocks; and within a second task container of the set of task containers, and in response to the output of the third task execution request message onto the group sub-queue, performing operations of the first task including acceding to executing the first task routine requested in the third task routine execution request message by outputting a third task in-progress message onto a second individual sub-queue of the task queue, wherein access to the second individual sub-queue is not shared with other task containers, and executing, by the at least one processor, the first task routine to generate the second data object block as part of performing the first task. 
     Each task container of the set of task containers is of a first type that supports executions of multiple instances of task routines at least partially in parallel. The method may further include, within the performance container, outputting a third task execution request message onto the group sub-queue to convey, to the set of task containers, a request to execute the first task routine to perform the first task to generate a second data object block of the set of data object blocks. The method may further include, within the first task container, and in response to the output of the second task execution request message onto the first individual sub-queue, performing operations of the second task including: acceding to executing the second task routine by outputting the second task in-progress message onto the first individual sub-queue of the task queue; executing, by the at least one processor, the second task routine using the first data object block as an input as part of performing the second task; and outputting a second task completion message onto the first individual sub-queue of the task queue. The method may further include, within the performance container, and in response to the output of the second task completion message onto the first individual sub-queue, performing operations including: determining, by the at least one processor, and based on the data dependencies among the set of tasks, whether there is another task of the set of tasks that uses data output by the second task as an input; and in response to a determination, by the at least one processor, that there is not another task that uses data output by the second task as an input, de-queuing the second task completion message from the first individual sub-queue to enable the first task container to accede to executing another task routine from another task routine execution request message on the group sub-queue. The method may further include, within the first task container, in response to the de-queuing of the second task completion message, and in response to the output of the third task execution request message onto the group sub-queue, performing further operations of the first task including: acceding to executing the first task routine that is requested in the third task routine execution request message by outputting a third task in-progress message onto the first individual sub-queue; and executing, by the at least one processor, the first task routine to generate the second data object block as part of performing the first task. 
     Each task container of the set of task containers may be of a first type that supports executions of multiple instances of task routines at least partially in parallel; the at least one processor may execute instructions of a resource allocation routine to cause the at least one processor to dynamically allocate multiple containers based on availability of at least one of processing resources and storage resources; and the method may further include, within the performance container, and in response to commencement of performance of the first task, providing, to the resource allocation routine, an indication of at least one of a need for provision of more task containers of the first type or a need for provision of fewer task containers of a second type that supports executions of single instances of task routines. 
     The task queue may be allocated to convey just messages associated with the execution of multiple instances of task routines by the first type of task container; and another task queue may be allocated to convey just messages associated with the execution of single instances of task routines by a second type of task container. 
     Data objects may be stored within the at least one federated area in a format that is associated with syntax of a first programming language in which at least a subset of task routines are written; and the first task container may provide a memory space within the first task container to support exchanging a data object generated in a format that is associated with syntax of a second programming language between two task routines written in the second programming language. The method may further include, within the first task container, and in response to the first task routine being written in the second programming language, performing operations including: converting, by the at least one processor, the at least one portion of the first data object into the format associated with the syntax of the first programming language for storage within the at least one federated area, and for being buffered within the device in which the first task container is maintained; storing another copy of the at least one portion of the first data object, as generated by execution of the first task routine in the format associated with the syntax of the second programming language, within the memory space; and in response to the first task container being caused to execute the second task routine immediately after the execution of the first task routine, and in response to the second task routine also being written in the second programming language, using, by the at least one processor the copy of the at least one portion of the first data object, as stored in the memory space, as an input to the second task routine. 
     The method may further include, within the first task container, in response to the first task routine being written in the second programming language, in response to the first task container being caused to execute the second task routine immediately after the execution of the first task routine, and in response to the second task routine being written in the first programming language, using the buffered copy of the at least one portion of the first data object as an input to the second task routine. 
     The job flow may be defined in a job flow definition that specifies a set of tasks to be performed by executing a corresponding set of task routines, and that specifies data dependencies among the set of tasks; the set of tasks may include the first task and the second task; the task queue may include the group sub-queue, and a set of individual sub-queues; the set of individual sub-queues may include the first individual sub-queue; and each individual sub-queue of the set of individual sub-queues may be accessible to a different task container of the set of task containers to provide each task container of the set of task containers with a path of communication with the performance container that is not shared with any other task container. 
     The group sub-queue may be maintained throughout at least the performance of the job flow; the first individual sub-queue may be newly instantiated each time the first task container accedes to executing a task routine that is requested in a task routine execution request message that is output onto the group sub-queue; acceding to executing the first task routine may include instantiating the first individual sub-queue before outputting the first task in-progress message onto the first individual sub-queue; and the method may further include, in response to the determination that the second task does not use the at least one portion of the first data object as an input, and in response to de-queuing of the first task completion message from the first individual sub-queue, uninstantiating the first individual sub-queue. 
     An apparatus includes at least one processor and a storage to store instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations including, within a kill container, the at least one processor is caused to perform operations including: monitor a task kill queue for error messages that each indicate an occurrence of an error in executing a task routine to perform a task of a set of tasks of a job flow; in response to output, onto the task kill queue, of a first set of error messages indicative of errors in executing multiple instances of a first task routine to perform a first task of the set of tasks with multiple data object blocks of a data object, compare a quantity of error messages within of the first set of error messages to a first predetermined threshold quantity; and in response to the quantity of error messages within the first set of error messages reaching the first predetermined threshold quantity, output a kill tasks request message that identifies the job flow onto the task kill queue. The at least one processor is also caused to, within at least one task container of a set of task containers, and in response to the output of the kill tasks request message onto the task kill queue, the at least one processor is caused to perform operations including: cease execution of the first task routine to cancel the performance of the first task; and output, onto a task queue, a task cancelation message indicative of cessation of execution of the first task routine, and that identifies the first task and the job flow. The at least one processor is further caused to, within a performance container, and in response to the output of the task cancelation message onto the task queue, the at least one processor is caused to perform operations including: output a job cancelation message indicative of cancelation of the job flow onto a job queue to cause a transmission of an indication of cancelation of the job flow, via a network, and to a requesting device that requested the performance of the job flow. 
     A computer-program product tangibly embodied in a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium includes instructions operable to cause at least one processor to perform operations including, within a kill container, the at least one processor is caused to perform operations including: monitor a task kill queue for error messages that each indicate an occurrence of an error in executing a task routine to perform a task of a set of tasks of a job flow; in response to output, onto the task kill queue, of a first set of error messages indicative of errors in executing multiple instances of a first task routine to perform a first task of the set of tasks with multiple data object blocks of a data object, compare a quantity of error messages within of the first set of error messages to a first predetermined threshold quantity; and in response to the quantity of error messages within the first set of error messages reaching the first predetermined threshold quantity, output a kill tasks request message that identifies the job flow onto the task kill queue. The at least one processor is also caused to, within at least one task container of a set of task containers, and in response to the output of the kill tasks request message onto the task kill queue, the at least one processor is caused to perform operations including: cease execution of the first task routine to cancel the performance of the first task; and output, onto a task queue, a task cancelation message indicative of cessation of execution of the first task routine, and that identifies the first task and the job flow. The at least one processor is further caused to, within a performance container, and in response to the output of the task cancelation message onto the task queue, the at least one processor is caused to perform operations including: output a job cancelation message indicative of cancelation of the job flow onto a job queue to cause a transmission of an indication of cancelation of the job flow, via a network, and to a requesting device that requested the performance of the job flow. 
     Within the kill container, the at least one processor may be caused to perform operations including: in response to output, onto the task kill queue, of a second set of error messages indicative of errors in executing a second task routine to perform a second task of the set of tasks with just one data object block of the data object or with the entirety of the data object, compare a quantity of the second set of error messages to a second predetermined threshold quantity, and in response to the quantity of error messages within the second set of error messages reaching the second predetermined threshold quantity, output the kill tasks request message that identifies the job flow onto the task kill queue. Within at least one task container in which second task routine is being executed, and in response to the kill tasks request message within the task kill queue, the at least one processor may be caused to perform operations including: cease execution of the second task routine to cease performance of the second task; and output a task cancelation message indicative of cancelation of execution of the second task routine, and that identifies the job flow, onto the task queue. 
     Within the kill container, the at least one processor may be caused to perform operations including, in response to the second task being performed by executing multiple instances of the second task routine with the set of data object blocks, and in response to the second set of error messages being associated with executing the second task routine with a first subset of the data object blocks of the data object, while executions of the second task routine with a second subset of the data object blocks of the data object are successful, increase the second predetermined threshold quantity or refrain from outputting the kill tasks request message based on errors associated with the second task. 
     Each error message of the first set of error messages may specify a type of error; the kill tasks request message may include a indication of a type of error derived from the type of error specified in each error message of the first set of error messages; and the derived type of error may be relayed through the task cancelation message, the job cancelation message, and the indication of cancelation transmitted to the requesting device. 
     Within each task container of the set of task containers, and in response to each occurrence of an error in executing the first task routine, the at least one processor may be caused to perform operations including: output onto the task kill queue an error message of the first set of error messages; and uninstantiate the task container. 
     The error specified as occurring in each error message may include at least one of an instance of failure of execution, or an instance of a level of a parameter of execution exceeding a threshold limit level during execution, and the parameter of execution of the first task routine may include at least one of: a level of consumption of a processing resource of the at least one processor by the execution of the first task routine; a level of consumption of a storage resource by the execution of the first task routine; and an amount of time elapsing since commencement of the execution of the first task routine. 
     The first set of error messages may include status messages that convey an indication of a level of a parameter of execution of the first task routine that are determined to exceed a threshold limit level. 
     Each task container of the set of task containers may be of a first type that supports executions of multiple instances of task routines at least partially in parallel; the at least one processor may execute instructions of a resource allocation routine to cause the at least one processor to dynamically allocate multiple containers based on availability of at least one of processing resources and storage resources; and within the performance container, and in response to the output of the task cancelation message onto the task queue, the at least one processor may be caused to provide, to the resource allocation routine, an indication that fewer task containers of the first type are needed to enable reallocation of resources to other task containers of a second type that supports executions of single instances of task routines. 
     The task queue may include a group sub-queue to which access is shared by the set of task containers, and a set of individual sub-queues; and each individual sub-queue of the set of individual sub-queues may be accessible to a different task container of the set of task containers to provide each task container of the set of task containers with a path of communication to exchange messages with the performance container that is not shared with any other task container. 
     The group sub-queue may be maintained throughout at least the performance of the job flow; each individual sub-queue of the set of individual sub-queues may be newly instantiated each time the corresponding task container accedes to executing a task routine that is requested in a task routine execution request message that is output onto the group sub-queue; and within each task container of the set of task containers, the at least one processor may be caused, in response to receiving the task cancelation message, uninstantiate the corresponding individual sub-queue. 
     A computer-implemented method includes, within a kill container, performing operations including: monitoring a task kill queue for error messages that each indicate an occurrence of an error in executing a task routine to perform a task of a set of tasks of a job flow; in response to output, onto the task kill queue, of a first set of error messages indicative of errors in executing multiple instances of a first task routine to perform a first task of the set of tasks with multiple data object blocks of a data object, comparing a quantity of error messages within of the first set of error messages to a first predetermined threshold quantity; and in response to the quantity of error messages within the first set of error messages reaching the first predetermined threshold quantity, outputting a kill tasks request message that identifies the job flow onto the task kill queue. The method also includes, within at least one task container of a set of task containers, and in response to the output of the kill tasks request message onto the task kill queue, performing operations including: ceasing execution, by at least one processor, of the first task routine to cancel the performance of the first task; and outputting, onto a task queue, a task cancelation message indicative of cessation of execution of the first task routine, and that identifies the first task and the job flow. The method further includes, within a performance container, and in response to the output of the task cancelation message onto the task queue, performing operations including: outputting a job cancelation message indicative of cancelation of the job flow onto a job queue to cause a transmission of an indication of cancelation of the job flow, via a network, and to a requesting device that requested the performance of the job flow. 
     The method may further include, within the kill container, performing operations including: in response to output, onto the task kill queue, of a second set of error messages indicative of errors in executing a second task routine to perform a second task of the set of tasks with just one data object block of the data object or with the entirety of the data object, comparing a quantity of the second set of error messages to a second predetermined threshold quantity, and in response to the quantity of error messages within the second set of error messages reaching the second predetermined threshold quantity, outputting the kill tasks request message that identifies the job flow onto the task kill queue. The method may still further include, within at least one task container in which second task routine is being executed by the at least one processor, and in response to the kill tasks request message within the task kill queue, performing operations including: ceasing execution, by the at least one processor, of the second task routine to cease performance of the second task; and outputting a task cancelation message indicative of cancelation of execution of the second task routine, and that identifies the job flow, onto the task queue. 
     The method may further include, within the kill container, performing operations including, in response to the second task being performed by executing, by the at least one processor, multiple instances of the second task routine with the set of data object blocks, and in response to the second set of error messages being associated with executing the second task routine with a first subset of the data object blocks of the data object, while executions of the second task routine with a second subset of the data object blocks of the data object are successful, increasing the second predetermined threshold quantity or refrain from outputting the kill tasks request message based on errors associated with the second task. 
     Each error message of the first set of error messages may specify a type of error; the kill tasks request message may include a indication of a type of error derived from the type of error specified in each error message of the first set of error messages; and the derived type of error may be relayed through the task cancelation message, the job cancelation message, and the indication of cancelation transmitted to the requesting device. 
     The method may further include, within each task container of the set of task containers, and in response to each occurrence of an error in executing, by the at least one processor, the first task routine, performing operations including: outputting onto the task kill queue an error message of the first set of error messages; and uninstantiating the task container. 
     The error specified as occurring in each error message may include at least one of an instance of failure of execution, or an instance of a level of a parameter of execution exceeding a threshold limit level during execution. The parameter of execution of the first task routine may include at least one of: a level of consumption of a processing resource of the at least one processor by the execution of the first task routine; a level of consumption of a storage resource by the execution of the first task routine; and an amount of time elapsing since commencement of the execution of the first task routine. 
     The first set of error messages may include status messages that convey an indication of a level of a parameter of execution, by the at least one processor, of the first task routine that are determined, by the at least one processor, to exceed a threshold limit level. 
     Each task container of the set of task containers may be of a first type that supports executions, by the at least one processor, of multiple instances of task routines at least partially in parallel; the at least one processor may execute instructions of a resource allocation routine to cause the at least one processor to dynamically allocate multiple containers based on availability of at least one of processing resources and storage resources; and the method may include, within the performance container, and in response to the output of the task cancelation message onto the task queue, providing, to the resource allocation routine, an indication that fewer task containers of the first type are needed to enable reallocation of resources to other task containers of a second type that supports executions of single instances of task routines. 
     The task queue may include a group sub-queue to which access is shared by the set of task containers, and a set of individual sub-queues; and each individual sub-queue of the set of individual sub-queues may be accessible to a different task container of the set of task containers to provide each task container of the set of task containers with a path of communication to exchange messages with the performance container that is not shared with any other task container. 
     The group sub-queue may be maintained throughout at least the performance of the job flow; each individual sub-queue of the set of individual sub-queues may be newly instantiated each time the corresponding task container accedes to executing a task routine that is requested in a task routine execution request message that is output onto the group sub-queue; and the method may include, within each task container of the set of task containers, in response to receiving the task cancelation message, uninstantiating the corresponding individual sub-queue. 
     The foregoing, together with other features and embodiments, will become more apparent upon referring to the following specification, claims, and accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present disclosure is described in conjunction with the appended figures: 
         FIG.  1    illustrates a block diagram that provides an illustration of the hardware components of a computing system, according to some embodiments of the present technology. 
         FIG.  2    illustrates an example network including an example set of devices communicating with each other over an exchange system and via a network, according to some embodiments of the present technology. 
         FIG.  3    illustrates a representation of a conceptual model of a communications protocol system, according to some embodiments of the present technology. 
         FIG.  4    illustrates a communications grid computing system including a variety of control and worker nodes, according to some embodiments of the present technology. 
         FIG.  5    illustrates a flow chart showing an example process for adjusting a communications grid or a work project in a communications grid after a failure of a node, according to some embodiments of the present technology. 
         FIG.  6    illustrates a portion of a communications grid computing system including a control node and a worker node, according to some embodiments of the present technology. 
         FIG.  7    illustrates a flow chart showing an example process for executing a data analysis or processing project, according to some embodiments of the present technology. 
         FIG.  8    illustrates a block diagram including components of an Event Stream Processing Engine (ESPE), according to embodiments of the present technology. 
         FIG.  9    illustrates a flow chart showing an example process including operations performed by an event stream processing engine, according to some embodiments of the present technology. 
         FIG.  10    illustrates an ESP system interfacing between a publishing device and multiple event subscribing devices, according to embodiments of the present technology. 
         FIG.  11    illustrates a flow chart showing an example process of generating and using a machine-learning model according to some aspects. 
         FIG.  12    illustrates an example machine-learning model based on a neural network. 
         FIG.  13    illustrates an example of distributed execution of routines using multiple containers. 
         FIGS.  14 A,  14 B,  14 C,  14 D,  14 E,  14 F,  14 G and  14 H , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a distributed processing system. 
         FIGS.  15 A and  15 B , together, illustrate an example alternate embodiment of a distributed processing system. 
         FIGS.  16 A,  16 B,  16 C,  16 D,  16 E,  16 F,  16 G,  16 H,  16 I,  16 J and  16 K , together, illustrate aspects of example hierarchical sets of federated areas and their formation. 
         FIGS.  17 A,  17 B,  17 C,  17 D,  17 E,  17 F,  17 G,  17 H,  17 I,  17 J,  17 K and  17 L , together, illustrate an example of defining, performing and documenting a job flow. 
         FIGS.  18 A,  18 B,  18 C,  18 D,  18 E and  18 F , together, illustrate an example of selectively storing, translating and assigning identifiers to objects in federated area(s). 
         FIGS.  19 A,  19 B,  19 C,  19 D,  19 E,  19 F and  19 G , together, illustrate an example of organizing, indexing and retrieving objects from federated area(s). 
         FIGS.  20 A,  20 B,  20 C,  20 D,  20 E and  20 F , together, illustrate aspects of the generation and use of a DAG. 
         FIGS.  21 A,  21 B,  21 C,  21 D,  21 E,  21 F,  21 G,  21 H,  21 I,  21 J,  21 K,  21 L,  21 M and  21 N , together, illustrate an example of using a messaging architecture to coordinate the execution of routines (including task routines) among dynamically allocated containers. 
         FIGS.  22 A,  22 B,  22 C and  22 D , together, illustrate aspects of exchanging objects between a distributed processing system with the architecture of  FIGS.  21 A-N  and an external device. 
         FIGS.  23 A,  23 B,  23 C,  23 D,  23 E,  23 F,  23 G,  23 H,  23 I,  23 J,  23 K and  23 L , together, illustrate an example of using the messaging architecture of  FIGS.  21 A-N  to coordinate a job flow performance. 
         FIGS.  24 A,  24 B,  24 C and  24 D  illustrate various examples of triggering performances of back-to-back tasks within the same container and/or pod within the messaging architecture of  FIGS.  21 A-N . 
         FIGS.  25 A,  25 B,  25 C and  25 D , together, illustrate an example of using the messaging architecture of  FIGS.  21 A-N  to automatically cancel a job flow performance. 
         FIGS.  26 A,  26 B,  26 C,  26 D and  26 E , together, illustrate an example of using the messaging architecture of  FIGS.  21 A-N  to effectuate a commanded cancellation of a job flow performance. 
         FIGS.  27 A,  27 B,  27 C,  27 D,  27 E,  27 F,  27 G,  27 H,  27 I,  27 J,  27 K,  27 L,  27 M,  27 N,  27 O,  27 P,  27 Q,  27 R,  27 S,  27 T,  27 U ,  27 V and  27 W, together, illustrate another example of using the messaging architecture of  FIGS.  20 A-N  to coordinate a job flow performance. 
         FIGS.  28 A and  28 B , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow of a federated device adding a requested federated area related to one or more other federated areas. 
         FIGS.  29 A,  29 B,  29 C,  29 D,  29 E,  29 F and  29 G , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow of a federated device storing objects in a federated area. 
         FIGS.  30 A,  30 B and  30 C , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow of a federated device storing a task routine in a federated area 
         FIGS.  31 A,  31 B and  31 C , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow of a federated device storing a job flow definition in a federated area. 
         FIGS.  32 A,  32 B,  32 C and  32 D , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow of a federated device deleting objects stored within a federated area. 
         FIGS.  33 A and  33 B , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow of a federated device either repeating an earlier performance of a job flow that generated a specified result report or instance log, or transmitting objects to enable a requesting device to do so. 
         FIGS.  34 A and  34 B , together, illustrate another example embodiment of a logic flow of a federated device repeating an earlier performance of a job flow. 
         FIGS.  35 A,  35 B,  35 C and  35 D , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow of a federated device performing a job flow. 
         FIGS.  36 A and  36 B , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow of a federated device storing a data object in a federated area. 
         FIGS.  37 A,  37 B and  37 C , together, illustrate another example embodiment of a logic flow of a federated device performing a job flow. 
         FIGS.  38 A,  38 B and  38 C , together, illustrate another example embodiment of a logic flow of a federated device performing a set of tasks specified in a request as a job flow. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A distributed processing system may employ a resource allocation routine to dynamically assign and monitor the use of processing, storage and/or communications resources of one or more computing devices used to implement MTC. MTC, and the breaking up of a complex analysis into job flows with associated sets of tasks, may be used together to enable a high degree of parallelism in the performance of those analyses. Developers are able to divide such a complex analysis into a set of tasks to be performed, are able to separately develop a task routine (or reuse a previously developed task routine) to perform each task, and are able to generate a job flow definition that specifies inputs and outputs of the job flow, as well as data dependencies among the tasks. Upon performance of the analysis, the job flow definition is analyzed to identify opportunities, afforded by instances of lack of dependency among the tasks, to perform various subsets of the tasks in parallel as part of dynamically deriving and effectuating an order of performance of those tasks that takes advantage of varying levels of available processing, storage and/or communications resources of the distributed processing system. 
     As part of enabling such advantage to be taken of such varyingly available resources, a resource allocation routine may be executed to provide a quantity of pods that is dynamically alterable based on the varying levels of availability and/or use of such resources. Each pod may include at least one container environment to which at least one thread of execution is assigned to execute an instance of a routine therein. Some of the pods may be employed in executing instances of task routines to perform corresponding tasks of job flows. Others of the pods may be employed in executing instances of various routines that control the performance of job flows, including the derivation and effectuation of an order of performance of tasks of a job flow through the execution of instances of task routines. The order in which task routines within such isolated environments are executed to effectuate the derived order of performance of their corresponding tasks may be coordinated through a set of message queues. Such coordination may be entirely independent of the dynamic provision of the pods by the resource allocation routine(s) such that it is possible for the execution of instances of task routines, and/or of routines that coordinate the execution of the task routines, to be interrupted or otherwise impaired by various events, including instances of uninstantiation of the pods within which they are executed. The set of message queues may be used to implement various protocols that aid in ensuring that such events will not prevent job flows from being successfully performed. 
     As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, the efficient allocation of resources of computing devices to perform operations therein is a longstanding challenge that has been addressed with numerous solutions over multiple decades. In recent years, the dynamic allocation of containers providing a dynamically alterable quantity of semi-separated execution environments has become a more widely favored approach to addressing this challenge. Particular examples of resource allocation software include, and are not limited to, Docker offered by Docker, Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., USA; and Kubernetes offered by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation of San Francisco, Calif., USA. Docker is the simpler one of these two particular offerings, in that it is operable in a “Swarm” mode in which it is capable of dynamically allocating numerous containers. Kubernetes is the more complex of these two particular offerings, in that it dynamically allocates “Pods” that each include one or more containers to support more complex combinations of execution environments. 
     While Docker&#39;s Swarm mode has become widely used in simpler applications, Kubernetes has become a de facto choice for resource allocation software as it has proven to be quite capable of supporting the parallelized execution of very large quantities of software routines across numerous computing devices. Unfortunately, experience with using even relatively sophisticated resource allocation software, such as Kubernetes, has shown that it can be at least difficult to coordinate the actions of instantiating and/or uninstantiating containers by such resource allocation software with the commencement and/or completion of execution of routines within those containers. More specifically, in Kubernetes, issues have been encountered with pods being uninstantiated while routine(s) are still being executed within a container therein such that their functions may be just partially performed. As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, allowing a software routine to just partially perform its function to an unknown extent by stopping its execution at an unknown point can be worse than simply not allowing a software routine to ever begin performing its function, at all. 
     The fact that many of such resource allocation routines are offered as open-source software does present the possibility of making changes to their source code to add the ability to coordinate their dynamic allocation of containers with the state of software routines executed within those containers. In this way, the uninstantiation of a container in which a routine is currently being executed might be delayed until that routine has reached the end of its execution therein. Alternatively or additionally, the uninstantiation of a container may be coordinated with the cessation of execution of a routine therein at a known point that results in a known state of the function being performed at the time of cessation of execution such that resumption of execution may be more easily resumed. However, it may be deemed desirable to avoid making such changes to the source code of an open source resource allocation routine so as to avoid such issues as the need to repeatedly merge the changes made in new versions thereof with the changes made to add such coordination capabilities. Instead, it may be deemed desirable to address such coordination issues in a manner that more easily allows new versions of a resource allocation routine to be adopted and used. 
     There are also other issues that can arise that impair the ability to effectively coordinate the execution of multiple routines across multiple ones of such dynamically allocated containers. Among such issues may be instances of aberrant behavior by the routines, themselves, within the container environments that may be severe enough to cause crashing of a container. Also, hardware malfunctions within computing devices may also occur that may cause unpredictable changes in the execution of a routine within a container and/or a crash of a container. Further, where the computing resources of multiple computing devices interconnected by a network are being centrally managed by a resource allocation routine executed within just one of those multiple computing devices, instances of loss or other impairment of network connections thereamong may cause loss of communications with containers between computing devices. 
     To address such a range of issues, one or more routines performing various coordinating functions may be executed within one or more computing devices alongside such resource allocation software as Kubernetes. Such additional routines may establish, maintain and use a set of message queues, where each such message queue links particular subsets of the containers/pods that are dynamically allocated by the resource allocation routine. Within the set of message queues, protocols may be used that enable the preservation of information about the state of execution of various routines among the set of containers/pods. In this way, aspects of the state of the performances of tasks of job flows implementing MTC may be preserved, along with aspects of the state of the performances of the functions of other routines that serve to coordinate the performances of those tasks. Thus, where an event occurs that causes an uncoordinated cessation of execution of a routine within a container, or that causes the crashing or uninstantiation of a container or entire pod, a restarting of execution of another instance of the same routine may be caused within another available container/pod to ensure that the function(s) that were supposed be performed by that routine are ultimately performed. 
     More specifically, a set of coordinating pods may be allocated in which various routines may be executed to support performances of job flows using computing resources that are allocated through the allocation of a set of task pods. Within each coordinating pod and each task pod may be at least one container in which a messaging routine is executed to engage in the exchange through message queues (specifically, through the storing of messages within queues, the reading of messages stored within queues and/or the removal of messages from queues), and another container in which the one of the routines supporting the performance of job flows or one of the task routines may be executed. 
     In some embodiments, environment variables may be used to provide the resource allocation software within indications of upper and/or lower limits concerning quantities that are to be maintained of each type of pod. By way of example, minimum and/or maximum quantities of various types of coordinating pod may be so provided to the resource allocation software to ensure that sufficient quantities of such pods are maintained to ensure proper functionality in implementing MTC. Similarly, such minimum and/or maximum quantities may be similarly provided for task pods, and as will shortly be explained, this may be extended to specifying such quantities for each of multiple types of task pod. By way of example, there may be a need to impose an upper limit on the quantity of a particular type of task pod that may be maintained to ensure that a particular limited resource used by that type is not excessively consumed. 
     In some embodiments, environment variables may be used to provide an indication to each pod concerning what type of pod it is meant to be. More specifically, as each pod is instantiated, a portion of code and/or of a data structure that defines various aspects of the functionality of that pod may be caused to include a data value indicative of the type of pod. In this way, one or more routines executed within the pod and/or within the container(s) therein may access such a data value to determine the type of pod, and accordingly, determine one or more aspects of its functionality. 
     Among the set of coordinating pods may be at least one portal pod in which a routine may executed to provide a portal on a network that implements a selected applications programming interface (API) and/or other protocol to enable the reception of requests from requesting devices for the performances of job flows. The portal pod(s) may maintain request data (e.g., a database) indicative of individual received requests for the performance of job flows, along with indications of the statuses of those performances and/or indications of the responses to the requests that have been transmitted back to the requesting devices. Also among the set of coordinating pods may be at least one performance pod in which a routine may be executed that employs the information provided in job flow definitions to coordinate performances of tasks of job flows by task routines executed within the task pods. 
     As part of enabling the execution of task routines within each of the task pods, those task routines and any data values required as input may need to be retrieved from one or more federated areas. In some embodiments, each of the task pods may include a third container within which an instance of a resolver routine may be executed to perform the work of searching through one or more federated areas for the task routine that is to be executed within that pod, along with any data objects required as inputs to that task routine. Additionally, in some embodiments, there may be multiple types of task pod that may be differentiated by a difference in features provided to support the execution of task routines therein. By way of example, in embodiments in which the execution of task routines written in a variety of different programming languages is supported, there may be different types of task pod in which each different type supports the execution of a task routine written in a different one of those programming languages. In some of such embodiments, the type of programming language (or the particular combination of programming languages) supported by each task pod may be configured as each task pod is instantiated through the earlier-discussed mechanism of an environment variable incorporated therein. 
     A variety of mechanisms may be used in combination to maintain coherency in the storage and retrieval of objects that are both required for, and generated during, the performance of job flows in a many-task computing (MTC) environment implemented in a distributed processing system based on multiple interconnected devices where the underlying file system(s) that are used are not architected to ensure coherency. More specifically, for each job flow, an order of performance of its tasks is derived based on data dependencies thereamong, and that order of performance is used in combination with message queuing to ensure that objects required for the performance of each task have already been generated and/or stored so as to ensure their availability for retrieval from any of multiple devices. Thus, a form of coherency is effectively layered atop the file system(s). 
     A form of groundwork for providing such coherency may be put in place even before job flows are performed. Across the federated area(s), a set of rules is employed to ensure that, when an object having dependencies on other objects is stored, those other objects have already been stored such that those dependencies are assured of being able to be met. By way of example, a job flow definition may not be permitted to be stored unless and until there is at least one task routine already available in storage to perform each of the tasks that are defined to be part of the corresponding job flow. Similarly, an instance log that documents an instance of performance of a job flow may not be permitted to be stored unless and until each data object and each task routine that it identifies is also already available in storage such that the documented performance is able to be repeated. Correspondingly, objects are not permitted to be removed from federated area(s) unless their continued storage within the federated area(s) is not required by any other object stored within the federated area(s). In this way, there are no missing objects such that the performance of a job flow is prevented as a result of an unmet dependency. 
     Built atop such groundwork, each instance of performance of each job flow begins with a derivation of an order of performance of its tasks based on instances of data dependencies thereamong in which a data object required as an input to a task must first be generated by a preceding task and stored in a federated area to enable its retrieval. This order of performance is then used to control the timing with which the performances of each task is caused to be allocated to a container to be carried out. Further, within each such container, the performance of each task is delayed to the extent necessary for data object(s) required as input(s) to be retrieved from the federated area(s) in which they have been stored, regardless of whether those federated area(s) are maintained locally within the same device in which the container is instantiated, or are maintained within other device(s). 
     Multiple message queues may be established and combined into a single queue structure that may be managed by a message broker routine, which may implement the Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP) promulgated by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) of Burlington, Mass., USA. One such message broker may be RabbitMQ offered by Pivotal of San Francisco, Calif., USA. Each message queue may be implemented to function in a manner in which a message is placed on a queue that is intended to be received by one of a particular type of pod in which a particular type of routine is executed, rather than a message that is intended to be received by any one particular individual pod. As will be explained in greater detail, this may allow multiple ones of the same type of pod to listen for the same message, and for whichever one of them that is able to take action in response to the message to reply to the message. This may be one of the approaches taken to provide some degree of resiliency in situations in which one of the pods of a particular type is uninstantiated or otherwise rendered nonfunctional (e.g., crashes). 
     At least a pair of message queues may be established that include a job queue and a task queue. Through the job queue, the portal pod(s) and the performance pod(s) may cooperate to initiate performances of job flows and to exchange status information concerning those performances to ensure the completion thereof in spite of instances of uninstantiation of pods and/or other mishaps, as will be described in greater detail. Through the task queue, the performance pod(s) and the task pods may cooperate to ensure the executions of task routines to perform the tasks of each job flow for which a request is received, as will also be described in greater detail. As task routines are successfully executed to perform tasks of a job flow, a performance pod coordinating the performance of that job flow receives messages indicative of those successful completions from those task pods through the task queue. Upon successful completion of the last of the tasks of a job flow, the performance pod may transmit a message conveying an indication of the results of the completion of the job flow to the portal pod to be relayed onward to requesting device. 
     It may be that, during such executions of task routines within the task pods, if one of those task pods is unexpectedly uninstantiated by the resource allocation routine, crashes and/or suffers some other form of mishap, the performance pod may be apprised of such an event as a result of ceasing to receive a status indication from that task pod within a predetermined period of time. Alternatively or additionally, the performance pod may be apprised of such an event as a result of the loss of a queue conveying messages from that task pod in embodiments in which the task queue is actually made up of multiple queues, including separate queues that each convey messages from just one of the task pods. Regardless of the exact manner in which the performance pod is apprised of such an event, the performance pod may respond to that event by causing the performance of that task to be re-commenced within another task pod. 
     The manner in which an unexpected uninstantiation of a performance pod may be handled may be somewhat similar. Upon a new performance pod taking over for the uninstantiated one, the new performance pod may analyze the job flow performance request messages on the job queue (regardless of the exact manner in which it is implemented), along with any corresponding response messages to determine what instances of job flow performance are still in progress. The new performance pod may also analyze task performance request messages on the task queue (regardless of the exact manner in which it is implemented), along with any corresponding response messages to determine what instances of task performance are still in progress. 
     In some embodiments, and as previously discussed, there may be different types of task pod that may be used in combination, such as different types of task pod to support task routines written in different programming languages, and/or different types of task pod to support task routines that use different combinations of services. In some of such embodiments, there may be multiple different types of task queue that each correspond to one of the different types of task pod. The provision of multiple different types of task queues, at least for conveying messages to multiple task pods, may be deemed a preferred mechanism by which to cause task routines having differing characteristics to be executed within appropriate corresponding types of task pod, and/or to better accommodate differences in the messages used with the different types of task pod and/or used with task routines having such different characteristics. 
     As part of enabling the tracking of events associated with the execution of numerous task routines associated with multiple job flows, it may be that each job flow that is to be performed is assigned a unique job flow instance identifier, and/or that each task that is to be performed within each job flow is assigned a unique task instance identifier. As messages concerning the performance of job flows and/or tasks are exchanged among the pods via the message queues, each such message may include at least the job flow instance identifier of that instance of performing the job flow, if not also the task instance identifier of the instance of performing the task that it is associated with. In some of such embodiments, both the job flow instance identifier and the multiple task instance identifiers associated with each instance of performance of a job flow may be centrally assigned by the portal pod that receives the request to perform that job flow. Thus, in such embodiments, it may be that at least the message conveying the request to perform the job flow that is ultimately received and acted upon by a performance pod will contain the task instance identifiers for all of the tasks that are to performed as part of that instance of performing that job flow. The job flow instance identifier and the complete set of task instance identifiers generated within the portal pod for an instance of performing a job flow may stored within the request data (database) accessible across the portal pods, in addition to being conveyed in the request to perform the job flow. 
     In some embodiments, sub flow instance identifiers may additionally be assigned to instances of performing sub flows of a job flow. More specifically, within the portal pod, a job flow definition may be analyzed to identify branches, instances in which multiple tasks may be performed in parallel, and/or instances where tasks are limited to being performed sequentially, as an approach to identifying distinct sub flows. It may be that, during an instance of performing a job flow, a request for status may be received by the portal pod. Under particular circumstances, the portal pod may be capable of responding to such a request unassisted. However, under other circumstances, the portal pod may relay the request via the job queue to the performance pod that controls that instance of performance of the job flow. That performance pod may respond by providing that portal pod with a data structure in which each task instance identifier is correlated to a per-task indication of status. The portal pod may match tasks to sub flows, and where possible, may convert indications of status for numerous tasks into single indications of status for sub flows, thereby generating a more compact description of current status for being transmitted to the device from which the status request was received. The possible statuses may include, but not be limited to, “not executed”, “running”, “failed”, “canceled” and/or “completed”. 
     In some embodiments, in addition to the aforementioned job and task queues (regardless of whether there is a single task queue or multiple task queues), at least one task kill queue may also be established and managed by the message broker routine. Additionally, among the set of coordinating pods may be at least one kill pod in which a kill routine may be executed in a container thereof that responds to various indications of trouble in the execution of a task routine within a task pod by triggering the cessation of the associated job flow. 
     More specifically, it may be that the kill routine recurringly receives messages via the kill queue from each of the task pods in which a task routine is being executed. Such recurring messages from each of the task pods may provide a form of “heartbeat” signal that confirms that each task pod still includes a container in which a task routine is still being successfully executed. Alternatively or additionally, such recurring messages from each of the task pods may provide various pieces of information concerning the execution of a task routine therein, including and not limited to, types of operations being performed as a result of the execution of the task routine, types of messages being sent and/or received through one or more queues, levels of various resources (e.g., processing resources, storage resources and/or communications resources) being consumed by the execution of the task routine, and/or failure of the execution of the task routine (e.g., crashing). 
     Where messages are received at the kill pod that are consistent with ongoing successful execution of a task routine within a task pod such that there are no messages received that indicate excessive consumption of a resource, excessive execution time, and/or the occurrence of a crash of the task routine, the kill routine within the kill pod may take no action concerning the execution of that task routine within that task pod. However, in response to one or more messages being received at the kill pod that are consistent with aberrant behavior by the task routine during its execution, and/or failure of execution of the task routine, the kill routine may transmit one or more messages to trigger the uninstantiation of the task pod in which the task routine is being executed. In so doing, the kill routine may also trigger the cessation of the job flow for which the task routine was being executed. 
     More specifically, upon receiving the message via the kill queue that commands uninstantiation of the task pod, the task pod may transmit an indication to the performance pod, via the task queue, that attempts at executing the task routine were unsuccessful before uninstantiating itself. In response, the performance pod may effectuate the cessation of any further performance of any of the tasks of the job flow that included the execution of that task routine, and may transmit an indication to the portal pod via the job queue of the performance of the job flow having ended with errors. The portal pod may, in turn, relay such an indication onward to the requesting device. As will also be explained in greater detail, an instance of a task pod uninstantiating itself and/or a container therein may trigger the resource allocation routine to instantiate a new task pod to replace it. 
     As will be explained in greater detail, the kill routine may enforce a rule in which a task routine is allowed to crash up to a predetermined maximum number of times before the task routine is deemed incapable of being successfully executed such that it is deemed necessary to trigger the uninstantiation of that task pod, and accordingly, trigger the cessation of the associated job flow. As will also be explained in greater detail, the kill routine may enforce one or more limitations on the consumption of resources, the consumption of time, the range of behaviors, and/or other parameters on the execution of a task routine. It may be that the kill routine enforces a rule in which the execution of a task routine that exceeds one or more of such parameters results in the task routine being deemed incapable of being successfully executed such that it is deemed necessary to trigger the uninstantiation of that task pod, and accordingly, trigger the cessation of the associated job flow. 
     The provision of such an ability to detect and respond to situations in which the execution of a task routine has failed and/or is proceeding in a way that exceeds one or more parameters of expected behavior may serve as another approach to mitigating the possibility of an uncoordinated uninstantiation of a pod by resource allocation software (e.g., Kubernetes). As those skilled in the art will readily recognize, such resource allocation software is necessarily reactive in nature, relying on its observations of various aspects of the manner in which routines are executed within pods such that one or more pods may be uninstantiated in an uncoordinated manner as a reaction to a change in the degree of utilization of one or more resources without any understanding of what is causing such a change. Thus, it may be that a pod in which the execution of a routine is underway without any mishap may be uninstantiated in response to a rise in the consumption of a resource caused by the failing execution of another routine underway in another pod. By identifying situations in which the execution of at least task routines may have gone wrong within a pod, and causing the uninstantiation of that particular pod and/or the cessation of the performance of its associated job flow, it may be possible to cause the uninstantiation of the pod in which trouble in the execution of task routine is occurring quickly enough to avoid having the resource allocation software being triggered to uninstantiate another pod in which a task routine or other routine was being successfully executed without mishap. 
     In some embodiments, in addition to the aforementioned job queue, task queue and task kill queue, at least one job kill queue may also be established and managed by the message broker routine. Through the task kill queue, one of the portal pod(s) and the task pods that are executing task routines to perform the tasks of a particular job flow may cooperate to stop the performance of that job flow. More specifically, a portal pod may relay, through the task kill queue, and to all of the task queues, a request received from a requesting device to stop the performance of all tasks associated with that particular job flow. The ones of the task pods that are involved in performing the tasks of the job flow will each individually recognize the message as being pertinent to them. Each of such task pods may transmit a message to the performance pod, via the task queue, indicating that execution of the task routine that was being executed within it has stopped, and for the reason of a received cancellation request. Following the transmission of such a message, each such task pod may uninstantiate itself, thereby triggering the resource allocation routine to replace it by instantiating a new task pod. In response to receiving such messages of cancellation of the performance(s) of one or more tasks of the particular task routine, the performance pod that was coordinating the performance of the tasks of that job flow may cease to cause any more of the tasks of that job flow to be executed, and may transmit a message acknowledging the cancellation of the job flow to portal pod to be relayed back to the device from which the cancellation request was received. 
     It should be noted that, either as a portal pod transmits the message to end the performance of the job flow onto the job kill queue, that same portal pod may also transmit the same message onto the job queue, and then refrain from retrieving that message from the job queue until it has updated the indications of the status the job flow stored within the database to indicate that the job flow is to be cancelled. In this way, if the particular portal pod becomes uninstantiated before the message indicating that the job flow has indeed been cancelled is received via the execution queue from a performance pod, such a status indication in the database will spur another portal pod to take over the work of ensuring that the cancellation takes place and/or of notifying the requesting device when that cancellation has happened. 
     As still another approach to mitigating the possibility of an uncoordinated uninstantiation of a pod by resource allocation software, indications may be provided, on a recurring basis, to the resource allocation software to provide preemptive indications of changing resource needs. This may done to guide the resource allocation software toward preemptively preparing for upcoming changes in resource needs, thereby avoiding situations in which the manner in which resources are consumed does not match the manner of consumption of resources that was previously prepared for such that excessive consumption of a resource results that triggers the resource allocation software to uninstantiate a pod in uncoordinated manner. More specifically, in this way, the resource allocation software may be preemptively provided within an indication of the need to change the quantities of one or more types of pod, either prior to or coincident with a change in consumption of resources, rather than allow the resource allocation software to wait until such changes in consumption resources has already occurred need such that the resource allocation software is prompted to take action as a reaction to such changes. 
     As previously discussed, and again by way of example, there may be different types of task pod that may be used in combination, such as different types of task pod to support task routines written in different languages, and/or different types of task pod to support task routines that use different combinations of services. In such an embodiment, there may occasionally be a need to alter the relative quantities of the different types of task pod as the particular combination of task routines that are executed change throughout the performance of one or more job flows. By way of another example, a change in the quantity of job flows that are to be performed at least partially in parallel may necessitate a need for changes in the relative quantities of task pods versus performance pods and/or portal pods. 
     In some embodiments, a relatively lengthy period of time may be required by the resource allocation software to instantiate a particular type of pod when there isn&#39;t already at least one of that type of pod already instantiated. Therefore, as a measure to at least limit the occasions on which such a lengthy time period must be incurred, there may be a hysteresis or other form of delay imposed on providing the resource allocation software with an indication that none of a particular type of pod will be needed such that the uninstantiation of all of that type of pod is caused to take place. Instead, there may be an initial indication provided to the resource allocation software that only one of the particular type of pod is needed, before providing an indication that none are needed after a pre-selected delay. 
     In some embodiments, it may be that, in addition to the resource allocation software, virtual machine (VM) allocation software is also used to distribute processing, storage, and/or other resources to support MTC. Particular examples of VM allocation software include, and are not limited to, VMware offered by VMware, Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., USA; Red Hat Virtualization offered by Red Hat, Inc. of Raleigh, N.C., USA; and Azure Virtual Machine offered by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., USA. Thus, the VM allocation software that allocates resources through allocation of VMs may be separate and distinct from the resource allocation software that allocates resources through allocation of containers and/or pods. 
     The VM allocation software may be employed to implement greater separation between implementations of MTC associated with different users and/or different groups of users. Alternatively or additionally, the VM allocation software may be employed to provide a mechanism by which amounts of processing and/or storage resources may be dynamically assigned to users and/or groups of users in an “on demand” basis to support changing workloads for each user or group of users, including MTC workloads. This may be part of a system for providing processing resources at varying levels to satisfy the varying needs of customers as part of providing a more cost-effective access to computing resources in which the prices paid or more closely associated with computing resources that are actually used. 
     This results in the creation of a dual-layered combination of resource allocation mechanisms based on using two separate pieces of software together. Instead of the resource allocation software allocating pods and/or containers based on what physical computing devices are available and/or what resources are available from each physical computing device, the resource allocation software is caused to allocate pods and/or containers based on what VMs are available and/or what resources are available from each VM. As part of implementing support for “on demand” increases and/or decreases in the quantity of VMs that are provided to each user and/or group of users, the VM allocation software may also be preemptively provided, on an ongoing basis, with indications of upcoming expected levels of demand for processing resources. Such indications may simply be the provision of the same indications of quantities of pods that are expected to soon be needed, where such quantities of pods may be automatically translated into corresponding quantities of VMs. Alternatively, such indications may include indications of quantities of VMs that are expected to soon be needed. 
     The ability of the resource allocation software to detect changes in availability of VMs and/or changes in levels of availability of resources may be relied upon to enable the addition of another VM to trigger the addition of one or more new pods and/or containers to make use of the resources provided by the added VM. More specifically, where both the resource allocation software and the VM allocation software are signaled to support the execution of more task routines in parallel through the provision of more pods and/or containers, and more VMs, the VM allocation software may instantiate or otherwise make available another VM, and the resource allocation software may respond to the addition of that VM by instantiating one or more additional pods and/or containers within that additional VM. Alternatively or additionally, it may be that a delay of a pre-selected period of time is imposed after the VM allocation software is signaled to increase the allocation of VMs, and before the resource allocation software is signaled to increase the allocation of containers as part of a mechanism to allow some amount of time for the provision of more VMs before more containers are instantiated. 
     In some embodiments, actions required to instantiate new VMs, uninstantiate existing VMs, and/or transfer existing VMs from another user or group of users may require more time to carry out than either the instantiation or uninstantiation of pods and/or containers. Therefore, in a manner similar to the responses by the resource allocation software to preemptive indications to decrease the quantity of pods and/or containers, there may be a hysteresis or other form of delay imposed on the responses by the VM allocation software to preemptive indications to decrease the overall quantity of VMs (or the quantity of a particular type of VMs). Such use of a degree of hysteresis in preemptively reducing quantities of VMs may serve to mitigate delays in making another VM available that may arise as a result of wildly fluctuating need for VMs causing a VM to become unavailable within all too short a period of time before it is needed, again. 
     The use of such a hysteresis in handling preemptive indications to decrease the quantity of VMs may be employed in controlling the order in which the quantity of pods and/or containers are reduced and in which the quantity of VMs is reduced. More specifically, where it is determined that fewer resources will soon be needed to support parallel executions of task routines, it may be deemed desirable to cause a reduction in pods and/or containers to occur before causing the corresponding reduction in VMs to occur. Therefore, it may be that the degree of hysteresis for causing such reduction in VMs to occur may be selected to cause the reduction in VMs to occur after the reduction in pods and/or containers. 
     The storage of objects (e.g., data objects, task routines, macros of task routines, job flow definitions, instance logs of past performances of job flows, and/or DAGs of task routines and/or job flows) may be effected using a grid of devices. Such a grid may provide distributed storage for data objects that include large data sets, complex sets of task routines for the performance of various analyses divided into tasks specified in job flows, and/or instance logs that document an extensive history of past performances of such analyses. Such distributed storage may be used to provide one or both of fault tolerance and/or faster access through the use of parallelism. In various embodiments, the objects stored within a federated area or a set of federated areas may be organized in any of a variety of ways that may employ any of a variety of indexing systems to enable access. By way of example, one or more databases may be defined by the one or more federated devices to improve efficiency in accessing data objects, task routines and/or instance logs of performances of analyses. 
     In some embodiments, the grid of devices may be a grid of federated devices that internally provide storage spaces within which federated area(s) may be defined for the storage of objects. Alternatively, the federated devices of such a grid may each be coupled to one or more storage devices that are operated under the control of the grid of federated devices. In such embodiments, each of the federated devices may provide the processing resources by which various operations may be performed in association with the objects. In other embodiments, the grid of devices may be a grid of storage devices within which federated area(s) may be defined for the storage of objects. In such embodiments, each of the storage devices may provide at least some degree of processing resources that may be of lesser capability than the processing resources of the federated device(s), but may still be sufficient for use in performing at least some limited range of operations in association with the objects. 
     Regardless of the type of device used to form such a grid, in some embodiments, each of those devices may store whole objects such that each object (including each data object) is stored as a single undivided object within a single storage device, and not stored in a distributed manner across two or more storage devices. In other embodiments, at least data objects that exceed a predetermined threshold storage size may each be stored in a distributed manner in which each such data object is divided into multiple blocks that are distributed for storage among multiple devices. In still other embodiments, a combination of such approaches may be used in which each object that is smaller than the predetermined threshold storage size is stored as an undivided object entirely within a single one of the devices, while each object that is larger than the predetermined threshold storage size is divided into blocks that are stored in a distributed manner across multiple ones of the devices. In some of such grids of devices that enable the storage of objects in a distributed manner, the devices of that grid may cooperate to implement a distributed file system with various data organization features that may fit one or more specific industrial standards. By way of a specific example, the multiple devices of such a grid may cooperate among themselves the HADOOP® distributed file system (HDFS) promulgated by the Apache™ Software Foundation of Wakefield, Mass., USA. 
     The one or more federated devices may define at least some of the storage space provided by the one or more federated devices and/or the one or more storage devices as providing federated area(s) in which the objects are stored and to which access is controlled by the one or more federated devices (or one or more other devices separately providing access control). By way of example, access to a federated area may be limited to one or more particular authorized persons and/or one or more particular authorized entities (e.g., scholastic entities, governmental entities, business entities, etc.). Alternatively or additionally, access to a federated area may be limited to one or more particular authorized devices that may be operated under the control of one or more particular persons and/or entities. 
     In embodiments in which at least some objects are to be stored as undivided objects within storage space provided by a single device(s) such that no object is to be stored in a distributed manner across two or more devices, the one or more federated devices may define each federated area to be entirely contained within a single federated device or storage device. Alternatively, at least one federated area may be defined to span two or more federated devices and/or storage devices, but each object stored therein may still be stored as an undivided object within just one of the two or more storage devices. Thus, while there may be one or more federated areas that span multiple devices, there may be no objects stored in a manner that does so. In embodiments in which at least data objects that exceed the predetermined threshold storage size are each to be stored in a distributed manner in which each such data object is divided into multiple blocks, the one or more federated devices may define at least one federated area to span multiple devices among which the blocks of such a data object may be distributed for storage. Thus, such a data object may be caused to span multiple federated devices and/or storage devices within a single federated area that also does so. In still other embodiments in which a combination of such approaches is to be used, a mixture of federated areas that are contained within a single device and that span multiple devices may be defined. Additionally, at least one federated area that is defined to span multiple devices may store a mixture of objects that are each stored as an undivided object within a single one of the multiple devices and objects that are divided into blocks that are distributed among the multiple devices for storage in a manner that spans the multiple devices. 
     In various embodiments, the manner in which a federated area is used may be limited to the storage and retrieval of objects with controlled access, while in other embodiments, the manner in which a federated area is used may additionally include the performances of analyses as job flows using the objects stored therein. In support of enabling at least the storage of objects within one or more federated areas, the one or more federated devices may provide a portal accessible to other devices via a network for use in storing and retrieving objects associated with the performances of analyses by other devices. More specifically, one or more source devices may access the portal through the network to provide the one or more federated devices with the data objects, task routines, job flow definitions, DAGs and/or instance logs associated with completed performances of analyses by the one or more source devices for storage within one or more federated areas for the purpose of memorializing the details of those performances. Subsequently, one or more reviewing devices may access the portal through the network to retrieve such objects from one or more federated area through the one or more federated devices for the purpose of independently confirming aspects of such the performances. 
     As an alternative to or in addition to the provision of such a portal, the one or more federated devices may be caused to repeatedly synchronize the contents of at least a portion of at least one selected federated area with an external storage space maintained by another device in a bidirectional manner, such as another source code repository system (e.g., GitHub™). More specifically, as object(s) within the external storage space of the other device are changed in any of a number of ways (e.g., added, edited, deleted, etc.), corresponding changes may be automatically made to corresponding objects maintained within the federated area to synchronize the contents therebetween. Similarly, as object(s) within the federated area are changed in any of a number of ways, corresponding changes may be automatically made to corresponding objects maintained within the external storage space of the other device, again, to synchronize the contents therebetween. 
     Among the objects that may be stored in a federated area may be numerous data objects that may include data sets. Each data set may be made up of any of a variety of types of data concerning any of a wide variety of subjects. By way of example, a data set may include scientific observation data concerning geological and/or meteorological events, or from sensors in laboratory experiments in areas such as particle physics. By way of another example, a data set may include indications of activities performed by a random sample of individuals of a population of people in a selected country or municipality, or of a population of a threatened species under study in the wild. By way of still another example, a data set may include data descriptive of characteristics of one or more neural networks, such as hyperparameters that specify the quantity and/or organization of nodes within the neural network, and/or such as parameters weights and biases of each of the nodes that may have been derived through a training process in which the neural network is trained to perform a function. In some embodiments, a single data set or a set of data sets may include data descriptive of multiple neural networks that are used together in an ensemble to perform a function. 
     Regardless of the types of data each such data set may contain, some data sets stored in a federated area may include data sets employed as inputs (or “input data objects”) to the performance of one or more job flows (e.g., flow input data sets), and/or other data sets stored in a federated area may include data sets that are generated as outputs (or “output data objects”) of past performance(s) of one or more job flows (e.g., result reports). It should be noted that some data sets that serve as inputs to the performance of one job flow may be generated as an output of a past performance of another job flow (e.g., a result report becoming an flow input data set). Still other data sets may be both generated as an output and used as input during a single performance of a job flow, such as a data set generated as an output by the performance of one task of a job flow for use by one or more other tasks of that same job flow as an input (e.g., mid-flow data sets). 
     Also among the objects that may be stored in a federated area may be a combination of task routines and a job flow definition that, together, provide a combination of definitions and executable instructions that enable the performance of an analysis as a job flow that is made up of a set of tasks to be performed. More precisely, the executable instructions for the performance of an analysis may be required to be stored as a set of task routines where each task routine is made up of executable instructions to perform one of the tasks of the analysis. Along with the set of task routines, a job flow definition may also be required to be stored that specifies aspects of how the set of task routines are executed together to perform the analysis, including identifying what tasks are to be performed and the data dependencies among those tasks. 
     As will be explained in greater detail, within the job flow definition, the tasks of an analysis that are to be performed may be identified, but not the actual task routines that are to be executed to cause those tasks to be performed. More specifically, within the job flow definition, a set of flow task identifiers may be used that each identify a task that is to be performed, but there may be no task routine identifiers within the job flow definition that uniquely identify any particular task routine to perform any of the specified tasks. By specifying tasks, but not particular task routines, allowance is made for dynamically selecting the version of each task routine that is to be executed to perform one of the specified tasks. In this way, newer versions of task routines that improve upon earlier versions in any of a variety of ways are able to be immediately adopted and used each time the associated job flow is performed. As will also be explained in greater detail, each flow task identifier that identifies a specific task may be correlated by the federated device(s) to the task routine identifiers of each version of task routine that performs the specific task to enable such dynamic selection of task routines. 
     It may be that the flow task identifiers are specified within the job flow definition as part of specifying the data dependencies among the tasks. More specifically, the flow task identifiers may be used to indicate which tasks are to receive data object(s) that serve as input(s) to the job flow from external source(s), which tasks are to generate output data object(s) that serve as output(s) of the job flow, and/or which tasks are to receive mid-flow data object(s) that are generated by other task(s) of the job flow. As will be explained in greater detail, although the job flow definition may include such indications of data dependencies among the tasks, the job flow definition may not include identifiers of the actual data objects that may be used as input(s) to a performance of the job flow, and/or that may be generated as output(s) by a performance of the job flow. More specifically, data object identifiers that uniquely identify the data objects, themselves, may not be specified in the job flow definition. In this way, the job flow is made more easily usable with any of a variety of data objects that may be specified as parameters when a performance of the job flow is requested. 
     In addition to specifying tasks to be performed and data dependencies among the specified tasks, the job flow definition may also includes specifications of input interface(s) by which each task may receive a data object as input, and/or specifications of output interface(s) by which each task may output a data object that it generates. Such specifications may include the specification of data types, data size, data format, data structure, data encoding, etc. In some embodiments, such specifications of input and/or output interfaces may enable a degree of error checking to ensure that a data object that is to be output through an output interface of one task is able to be accepted as an input through an input interface of another task. As will be explained in greater detail, it may be required that compatibility of interfaces be maintained between versions of task routines that are to perform the same task as part of ensuring the ability to use different versions thereof to perform that task. 
     Such breaking up of an analysis into a job flow made up of tasks performed by the execution of task routines that are stored in federated area(s) may be relied upon to enable code reuse in which individual task routines may be shared among the job flows of multiple analyses. Such reuse of a task routine originally developed for one analysis by another analysis may be very simply effected by specifying the flow task identifier of the corresponding task in the job flow definition for the other analysis. Additionally, reuse may extend to the job flow definitions, themselves, as the availability of job flow definitions in a federated area may obviate the need to develop of a new analysis routine where there is a job flow definition already available that defines the tasks to be performed in an analysis that may be deemed suitable. Thus, among the objects that may be stored in a federated area may be numerous selectable and reusable task routines and job flow definitions. 
     During runtime of the analysis, the one or more data objects specified in a request to perform the analysis may be retrieved for use as inputs thereto, and the job flow definition may for the performance of the analysis as a job flow may also be retrieved. The job flow definition may then be parsed to retrieve the flow task identifiers therefrom to be used to select and retrieve a version of task routine to perform each task specified by one of the flow task identifiers. The job flow definition may also be parsed to analyze the indications of data dependencies therein to derive an order of performance of the tasks, which may include identifying any opportunities that may exist to perform at least some of the tasks at least partially in parallel. 
     As will also be explained in greater detail, there may be various differing ways in which dependencies among tasks may be expressed within a job flow. In one approach, there may be a requirement that, for each instance of an object being exchanged between two tasks, the job flow definition must include an explicit indication of one task generating the data object at an output interface thereof, and an explicit indication of the other task receiving that same data object at an input interface thereof. However, in some embodiments, there may be some degree of allowance for a simpler approach to specifying an exchange of a data object between two tasks in which the task that generates the object at an output interface thereof is, itself, explicitly indicated to be the object that is to be received at an input of the other task. In essence, in this other approach, the task that generates the data object is referred to as if it, itself, were the data object that is received by the other task. 
     In various embodiments, a job flow definition may be augmented with graphical user interface (GUI) instructions that are to be executed during a performance of the job flow that it defines to provide a GUI that provides a user an opportunity to specify one or more aspects of the performance of the job flow at runtime. By way of example, such a GUI may provide a user with an opportunity to select one or more data objects to be used as inputs to that performance, to select which one of multiple versions of a task routine is to be used to perform a task, and/or select a federated area into which to store a result report to be output by that performance. In so doing, the GUI may include instructions to display lists of objects, characteristics of objects, DAGs of objects, etc. in response to specific inputs received from a user. 
     In some of such embodiments, the source device that provides such an augmented job flow definition to the one or more federated devices for storage may enable a user to author such GUI instructions through use of a sketch input user interface. More specifically, such a source device may support the entry of GUI instructions as graphical symbols sketched by a user of the source device through a touchscreen user interface device that supports sketch input and a stylus. Such a source device may maintain a library of graphical symbols that are each correlated to a particular type of object, to a particular characteristic of an object and/or to the displaying of particular information in connection to a particular type of object. Alternatively or additionally, such a library may include graphical symbols that are correlated to particular types of user input that is to be awaited and/or to particular types of actions to be taken in response to the receipt of particular types of user input. One or more of such graphical symbols may include human readable text that may be employed to specify distinct pages of a GUI and/or to specify particular objects. Such a source device may interpret the graphical symbols, any text incorporated therein, and/or the manner in which those graphical symbols are arranged relative to each other in the sketch input to derive and generate the GUI instructions with which a job flow definition is to be augmented. 
     Although an analysis routine may be implemented as a single job flow that defines a set of tasks to be performed in a specified order, it may be deemed desirable to implement a relatively large and/or complex analysis routine as multiple job flows that are, themselves, performed in a specified order. More precisely, it may be deemed desirable for a relatively large and/or complex analysis routine to be developed as multiple job flows to enable the development effort to be distributed among multiple developers and/or teams of developers, with the intention to combine the multiple job flows into a single “superset” job flow once such a distributed development effort is completed. The multiple job flows to be combined into such a superset job flow may have been previously performed in a particular temporal order, starting with one or more preexisting data objects being provided to the first one(s) of the multiple job flows to be performed (i.e., the input job flow(s)). The performance(s) of those first one(s) of the multiple job flows may, in turn, have generated one or more data objects that were subsequently been used directly as inputs to other(s) of the multiple job flows, and so on following the temporal order, until one or more of the multiple job flows were performed that generated one or more data objects that were directly provided to a last job flow among the multiple job flows that directly generated the particular output data object (i.e., the output job flow). 
     Alternatively, it may be that a superset job flow arises more organically as a result of different developers or teams of developers having minimal connection with each other independently developing each of multiple job flows that, at a subsequent time, are determined to be capable of being combined to implement a relatively large and/or complex analysis. 
     Regardless of what the exact motivation and/or circumstances may be for the development of a superset job flow, the ability for a data set output by the performance of one job flow to be used as an input to a subsequent performance of another job flow serves to enable the formation of a superset job flow. In such a superset job flow, at least a portion of each job flow of the set of job flows from which the superset job flow is derived may be caused to be specified to be performed together in an order that is based on dependencies thereamong that arise from each instance in which an output data object generated by the performance of one of the job flows becomes an input data object to the performance of another of the job flows. Thus, the job flow definition of such a superset job flow may be generated by combining information from the job flow definitions of each of the job flows of the set of job flows. The job flow definition for the superset job flow may then simply be stored in a federated area to enable access to it, and thereby, enable the performance of the superset job flow. 
     In such a superset job flow, each job flow therein that outputs a data object that is not also used as an input to one of the other job flows therein may be designated an output job flow. Correspondingly, each job flow therein that uses a job data object as an input that is not generated by one of the other job flows therein may be designated an input job flow. Due to dependencies among the job flows within a superset job flow, it is expected that input job flows would precede output job flows in the order in which they are to be performed, though an exception is possible where a job flow therein is both an input job flow and an output job flow. 
     Once so derived, the superset job flow may then be used in place of the multiple job flows to either repeat the generation of the particular output data object or to generate other similar output data objects, thereby reducing the number of distinct job flows that must be explicitly requested be performed to accomplish the generation of the same output. The automation of the derivation of the superset job flow may enable personnel with little or no programming skills to nonetheless cause the superset job flow to be derived from at least a portion of each of the multiple job flows. More precisely, the job flow definition that defines the superset job flow is derived based on at least a portion of the job flow definitions that define each of the multiple job flows. 
     The derivation of the superset job flow may begin with the receipt, by one or more federated devices, of a request to so derive it, where the request may employ different object identifiers to explicitly identify different ones of the output job flow, the particular output data object and/or the past performance of the output job flow by which the particular output data object was originally generated. More specifically, the one or more federated devices may receive a request to generate the job flow definition for such a superset job flow in which the particular output data object is identified, and may use the data object identifier of that output data object to identify an instance log documenting the particular past performance of the output job flow by which the output data object was directly generated, and thereby identify the output job flow of the particular past performance. Alternatively, the one or more federated devices may receive a request to generate the job flow definition for such a superset job flow in which the output job flow is identified, and may use the job flow identifier of the output job flow to identify instance log(s) documenting one or more past performances of the output job flow from which a selection of the particular past performance may be prompted to be made, which would thereby identify the particular output data object. 
     Regardless of the exact manner in which the particular output data object, the output job flow and/or the particular past performance of the output job flow that generated the particular output data object are identified in the request, the one or more federated devices may perform the derivation of the superset job flow in a manner that proceeds through the multiple job flows in the reverse of the order in which they were performed to generate the particular output data object. Thus, the derivation of the superset job flow may begin by analyzing aspects of the past performance of the output job flow (which again, would have occurred last) to identify which of one(s) of the other job flows among the multiple job flows were performed at a time immediately preceding the performance of the output job flow to directly provide the output job flow with data object(s) that were directly needed as inputs to the performance of the output job flow. Then, aspects of the past performance(s) of each of the preceding job flow(s) that were performed to directly provide input(s) to the output job flow are similarly analyzed to identify any of the multiple job flows that were performed at a still earlier time to provide input(s) to the job flow(s) that directly provided input(s) to the output job flow. Such a process of proceeding in reverse order through the performances of the multiple job flows, starting with the output job flow, continues until each job flow of the multiple job flows is identified so that at least a portion of each may then be incorporated into the superset job flow. 
     More specifically, the one or more federated devices may begin the automated derivation of the superset job flow by analyzing the output job flow to identify portion(s) thereof that were not required in the particular past performance to generate the particular output data object, and may prune those portion(s) to derive a pruned form of the output job flow to be included in the superset job flow. The one or more federated devices may then use indications of one or more input data objects that were directly used in the particular past performance as inputs to the pruned form of the output job flow to generate the particular output data object to identify one or more preceding job flows by which each of those one or more input data objects may have been generated. The one or more federated devices may then analyze each of the one or more preceding job flows to identify portion(s) of each that were not required to generate those one or more input data objects, and may prune those portion(s) to derive a pruned form of each to also be included in the superset job flow. The one or more federated devices may then use indications of one or more input data objects to the pruned form of each of those one or more preceding job flows to identify still more preceding job flows, and so on, until no further preceding job flows are able to be identified from which pruned forms may be derived for inclusion in the superset job flow. In this way, the superset job flow may be formed starting with the last task of the output job flow that was the last of the multiple job flows to be performed to generate the particular output data object, and proceeding towards the earliest task(s) to be performed within the one(s) of the multiple job flows to be performed first. 
     The response to a request to derive such a superset job flow may include the provision of a visual representation of the superset job flow. Such a visual representation may include indications of aspects of the output job flow and each of the preceding job flows, and/or what portions of each may have been pruned as part of deriving the superset job flow. In some embodiments, it may be that such a visual representation of the superset job flow is part of a series of visual representations that may be generated to provide a step-by-step visual presentation of the identification and/or pruning of the output job flow and/or of each preceding job flow. Alternatively or additionally, it may be that such a visual representation of the superset job flow is provided as part of a graphical user interface (GUI) of a graphical editor that may enable the superset job flow to be manually modified, following its derivation, to undo at least some of the pruning that has been performed and/or to make still other changes. As with the automation of the derivation of the superset job flow, such a graphical presentation of the superset job flow may further aid personnel with little or no programming skills in the development of such a new job flow by affording such personnel an opportunity to understand various aspects of the superset job flow that they have just caused to be created. Where such a visual presentation is made as part of a GUI for a graphical editor, the graphical presentation of the newly derived superset job flow may provide an advantageous starting point for what may be some relatively minor additional modifications to impart particular desired characteristics to the superset job flow. 
     The extent to which preceding job flows may be identified for inclusion within the superset job flow (either in a pruned form or without pruning) may be limited by what job flows have been stored within the one or more federated areas maintained by the one or more federated devices. Stated differently, if a job flow was performed externally on another device to generate a data object that served as an input data object to the past generation of the particular output data object, and if that externally generated input data object is provided to the one or more federated devices for storage, but not the job flow definition of that externally performed job flow, then information needed to include that externally performed job flow in the superset job flow is simply not available to the one or more federated devices. 
     Alternatively or additionally, the extent to which preceding job flows may be identified for inclusion within the superset job flow may be limited by what federated areas are authorized to be accessed as part of searching for preceding job flows. More specifically, the particular personnel originating the request and/or the requesting device from which the request is received may be associated with an authorization to access a particular defined set of one or more particular federated areas. Where an indication is found of there being another preceding job flow for which the job flow definition is not accessible due to lack of authorization to access the federated area within which it is stored, the visual representation of the superset job flow may be generated to include an indication that one or more additional preceding job flows do exist, but are unable to be included in the superset job flow due to lack of authorization to access their job flow definition(s). Such an indication may additionally include contact information by which a request may be made to obtain the necessary authorization. 
     Such limitations on authorization to access a job flow definition of a preceding job flow may be at least partially based on the location, within a hierarchy of federated areas, of each federated area to which authorization is granted. Alternatively or additionally, where the requesting device is associated with an alternate development environment with which objects area shared through the use of synchronized transfer areas, such limitations on authorization to access a job flow definition of a preceding job flow may be at least partially based on the location, within a hierarchy of federated areas, of each federated area in which one of such a synchronized transfer area has been defined. Also where the requesting device is associated with an alternate development environment in which a secondary programming language other than the primary programming language usually associated with federated areas is used, the job flow definition of the superset job flow, and/or the objects required to derive and/or provide a visual representation of the superset job flow, may be translated between such languages. 
     In some embodiments, a job flow definition may be stored within federated area(s) as a file or other type of data structure in which the job flow definition is represented as a DAG (directed acyclic graph). Alternatively or additionally, a file or other type of data structure may be used that organizes aspects of the job flow definition in a manner that enables a DAG to be directly derived therefrom. Such a file or data structure may directly indicate an order of performance of tasks, or may specify dependencies between inputs and outputs of each task to enable an order of performance to be derived. By way of example, an array may be used in which there is an entry for each task routine that includes specifications of its inputs, its outputs and/or dependencies on data objects that may be provided as one or more outputs of one or more other task routines. Thus, a DAG may be usable to visually portray the relative order in which specified tasks are to be performed, while still being interpretable by federated devices and/or other devices that may be employed to perform the portrayed job flow. Such a form of a job flow definition may be deemed desirable to enable an efficient presentation of the job flow on a display of a reviewing device as a DAG. Thus, review of aspects of a performance of an analysis may be made easier by such a graphical representation of the analysis as a job flow. 
     Regardless of whether the DAG is saved for use as a job flow definition, or simply to retain the DAG for future reference, the DAG may be stored as a script generated in a process description language such as business process model and notation (BPMN) promulgated by the Object Management Group of Needham, Mass., USA. 
     The tasks that may be performed by any of the numerous tasks routines may include any of a variety of data analysis tasks, including and not limited to searches for one or more particular data items, and/or statistical analyses such as aggregation, identifying and quantifying trends, subsampling, calculating values that characterize at least a subset of the data items within a data object, deriving models, testing hypothesis with such derived models, making predictions, generating simulated samples, etc. The tasks that may be performed may also include any of a variety of data transformation tasks, including and not limited to, sorting operations, row and/or column-based mathematical operations, filtering of rows and/or columns based on the values of data items within a specified row or column, and/or reordering of at least a specified subset of data items within a data object into a specified ascending, descending or other order. Alternatively or additionally, the tasks that may be performed by any of the numerous task routines may include any of a variety of data normalization tasks, including and not limited to, normalizing time values, date values, monetary values, character spacing, use of delimiter characters and/or codes, and/or other aspects of formatting employed in representing data items within one or more data objects. The tasks performed may also include, and are not limited to, normalizing use of big or little Endian encoding of binary values, use or lack of use of sign bits, the quantity of bits to be employed in representations of integers and/or floating point values (e.g., bytes, words, doublewords or quadwords), etc. Also alternatively or additionally, the tasks that may be performed may include tasks to train one or more neural networks for use, tasks to test one or more trained neural networks, tasks to coordinate a transition to the use of one or more trained neural networks to perform an analysis from the use of a non-neuromorphic approach to performing the analysis, and/or tasks to store, retrieve and/or deploy a data set that specifies parameters and/or hyper parameters of one or more neural networks. By way of example, such tasks may include tasks to train, test, and/or coordinate a transition to using, an ensemble of neural networks such as a chain of neural networks. 
     By way of example, tasks that may be performed may include the training, testing, and/or use of a chain of neural networks to generate time series predictions. Each neural network of such a neural network chain may be trained, and then used, to provide a portion of the time series prediction that covers a different subrange of time that make up the full range of time covered by the time series prediction. The neural networks may be interconnected such that each neural network in the neural network chain may receive, as a subset of its inputs, the outputs of each of the preceding neural networks by which each of those preceding neural networks provide their portion of the time series prediction. The neural networks may be trained, one at a time, starting with the first neural network in the chain. To reduce overall training time, a form of transferred learning may be employed in which each neural network, as a starting point for its training, is provided with the weights and biases representing what was learned by the preceding neural network. 
     The set of tasks that may be specified by the job flow definitions may be any of a wide variety of combinations of analysis, normalization and/or transformation tasks. The result reports generated through performances of the tasks as directed by each of the job flow definitions may include any of a wide variety of quantities and/or sizes of data. In some embodiments, one or more of the result reports generated may contain one or more data sets that may be provided as inputs to the performances of still other analyses, and/or may be provided to a reviewing device to be presented on a display thereof in any of a wide variety of types of visualization. In other embodiments, each of one or more of the result reports generated may primarily include an indication of a prediction and/or conclusion reached through the performance of an analysis that generated the result report as an output. 
     Additionally among the objects that may be stored in a federated area may be numerous instance logs that may each provide a record of various details of a single past performance of a job flow. More specifically, each instance log may provide indications of when a performance of a job flow occurred, along with identifiers of various objects stored within federated area(s) that were used and/or generated in that performance. Among those identifiers may be an identifier of the job flow definition that defines the job flow of an analysis that was performed, identifiers for all of the task routines executed in that performance, identifiers for any data objects employed as an input (e.g., input data sets), and identifiers for any data objects generated as an output (e.g., a result report that may include one or more output data sets). 
     The one or more federated devices may assign such identifiers to data objects, task routines and/or job flow definitions as each is stored and/or generated within a federated area to enable such use of identifiers in the instance logs. In some embodiments, the identifier for each such object may be generated by taking a hash of at least a portion of that object to generate a hash value to be used as the identifier with at least a very high likelihood that the identifier generated for each such object is unique. Such use of a hash algorithm may have the advantage of enabling the generation of identifiers for objects that are highly likely to be unique with no other input than the objects, themselves, and this may aid in ensuring that such an identifier generated for an object by one federated device will be identical to the identifier that would be generated for the same object by another device. 
     Where task routines are concerned, it should be noted that the unique identifier generated and assigned to each task routine is in addition to the flow task identifier that identifies what task is performed by each task routine, and which are employed by the job flow definitions to specify the tasks to be performed in a job flow. As will be explained in greater detail, for each task identified in a job flow definition by a flow task identifier, there may be multiple task routines to choose from to perform that task, and each of those task routines may be assigned a different identifier by the one or more federated devices to enable each of those task routines to be uniquely identified in an instance log. Where instance logs are concerned, the identifier assigned to each instance log may, instead of being a hash taken of that instance log, be a concatenation or other form of combination of the identifiers of the objects employed in the past performance that is documented by that instance log. In this way, and as will be explained in greater detail, the identifier assigned to each instance log may, itself, become useful as a tool to locating a specific instance log that documents a specific past performance. 
     The assignment of a unique identifier to each object (or at least an identifier that is highly likely to be unique to each object) enables each object to be subsequently retrieved from storage to satisfy a request received by a federated device to access one or more specific objects in which the request specifies the one or more specific objects by their identifiers. Alternatively, requests may be received to provide access to multiple objects in which the multiple objects are specified more indirectly. By way of example, a request may be received to provide access to a complete set of the objects that would be needed by the requesting device to perform a job flow with specified data set(s) serving as inputs, where it is the job flow definition and the data set(s) that are directly identified in the request. Responding to such a request may entail the retrieval of the specified job flow definition and the specified data set(s) by the one or more federated devices, followed by the retrieval of the flow task identifiers for the tasks to be performed from the job flow definition, followed by the use of the flow task identifiers to retrieve the most current version of task routine to perform each task, and then followed by the transmission of the specified job flow definition, the specified data set(s) and the retrieved task routines to the requesting device. By way of another example, a request may be received to provide access to the objects that are identified by an instance log as having been employed in a past performance of a job flow, where it is the instance log that is directly identified by its identifier in the request. Responding to such a request may entail the retrieval of the specified instance log by one or more federated devices, followed by the retrieval of the identifiers of other objects from that instance log, and then followed by the retrieval and transmission of each of those other objects to the device from which the request was received. As will be explained in greater detail, still other forms of indirect reference to objects stored within federated area(s) may be used in various requests. 
     In various embodiments, the use of federated area(s) may go beyond just the storage and/or retrieval of objects, and may include the use of those stored objects by the one or more federated devices to perform job flows. In such embodiments, the one or more federated devices may receive requests (e.g., via the portal) from other devices to perform various analyses that have been defined as job flows, and to provide an indication of the results to those other devices. More specifically, in response to such a request, the one or more federated devices may execute a combination of task routines to perform tasks of a job flow described in a job flow definition within a federated area to thereby perform an analysis with one or more data objects, all of which are stored in one or more federated areas. In so doing, the one or more federated devices may generate an instance log for storage within a federated area that documents the performances of the analysis, including identifiers of data objects used and/or generated, identifiers of task routines executed, and the identifier of the job flow definition that specifies the task routines to be executed to perform the analysis as a job flow. 
     In some of such embodiments, the one or more federated devices may be nodes of a grid of federated devices across which the tasks of a requested performance of an analysis may be distributed. The provision of a grid of the federated devices may make available considerable shared processing and/or storage resources to allow such a grid to itself perform complex analyses of large quantities of data, while still allowing a detailed review of aspects of the performance of that analysis in situations where questions may arise concerning data quality, correctness of assumptions made and/or coding errors. During the performance of a job flow, the one or more federated devices may analyze the job flow definition for the job flow to identify opportunities to perform multiple tasks in parallel based on dependencies among the tasks in which data generated as an output by one task is needed as an input to another. Such opportunities for parallel performances may be utilized as opportunities to more thoroughly spread the performances of the multiple tasks among more processor threads and/or cores, among more processors and/or among more federated devices. 
     However, it should be noted that other embodiments are possible in which each of the multiple storage devices may incorporate sufficient processing resources to enable at least a subset of job flows to be performed by the multiple storage devices in addition to and/or in lieu of the one or more federated devices doing so. In some of such embodiments, whether the processing resources of the one or more federated devices are employed to perform a particular job flow or the processing resources of multiple storage devices are employed to do so may be determined based on a variety of aspects associated with the manner in which one or more of the objects needed to perform the job flow are stored. At least in the case of data objects used as inputs, such aspects may include, and are not limited to, which federated area each such data object is stored within, which federated device(s) and/or storage device(s) each such data object is stored within, the size of such data objects, whether such data objects are stored in an undivided manner or a distributed manner, and/or whether such data objects that are stored in a distributed manner are in a distributable form. 
     The one or more federated devices may store a set of indications of various aspects of the storage of each object stored within a federated area. By way of example, the one or more federated devices may generate a separate object location identifier for each object in addition to, or in lieu of, the object identifier generated for each object. In response to the receipt of a request to perform any of a variety of operations, including the retrieval of objects to transmit to another device or the performance of a job flow, the one or more federated devices may retrieve the indications of such aspects of object storage from the object location identifier for each object that is to be accessed. The one or more federated devices may then use the retrieved indications in retrieving those objects and/or in determining whether to use the processing resources of the device(s) in which one or more of the objects are stored and/or the processing resources of other device(s) in performing a job flow. 
     Also among the aspects of the storage of at least data objects for which indications may be stored may be aspects of their origins. More precisely, for each data object, indications may be stored as to whether each data object was generated as an output of a performance of a job flow within the distributed processing system, was generated as an output of a performance of a job flow within another processing device and/or system before being provided to the distributed processing system, and/or was provided to the distributed processing system without any indication of its origins. In essence, such information is meant to provide an answer as to how and/or why each data object came to be stored in a federated area in the first place. In some embodiments, such indications of data object origins may be useful when the functionality of one or more job flows is being analyzed as part of enforcing accountability for sources of errors that may be discovered in past performances of job flows. By way of example, it may be deemed useful to know whether a data object used as an input to a job flow was generated in a past performance of another job flow, or was possibly generated in an entirely different way by an outside source, in a situation in which the difference in characteristics of a data object generated in one of these ways versus the other may be significant in understanding an occurrence of a failure in a performance of a job flow. Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, such indications of origins may be useful during the automated generation of a new job flow that is to be capable of generating a specified output from a specified input. More specifically, indications that one or more data objects needed as input are not able to be traced to having been generated as the output(s) of earlier performance(s) of one or more job flows may be deemed useful in identifying error condition(s) that may arise during such automated generation of a new job flow. 
     Where a data set that is required as an input to a job flow is sufficiently large (e.g., exceeds a predetermined threshold storage size) that it has been divided into multiple blocks and stored in a distributed manner among multiple storage devices, it may be deemed desirable to employ the processing resources of the multiple storage devices among which that data set is distributed to perform the job flow so as to avoid incurring the overhead of transmitting such a large data set to the one or more federated devices so as to use the processing resources of the one or more federated devices to perform the job flow. Stated differently, it may be deemed desirable to essentially use the data set in situ within the storage devices in which it is already stored. This may be in spite of the one or more federated devices having superior processing resources such that the performance of one or more of the tasks of the job flow may be accomplished more quickly and/or efficiently using those processing resources, but where the overhead in transmitting the data set to the one or more federated devices would overwhelm the benefits of using those processing resources. In this way, the transmission of any portion of the data set among the storage and/or federated devices may be entirely avoided by having at least part of the job flow being performed within the multiple storage devices among which the blocks of such a large data set are locally stored, and at least partially in parallel among those multiple storage devices. 
     However, and as will be familiar to those skilled in the art, as originally received by the one or more federated devices, the data set may be in a form in which its data items are organized therein in complex manner that does not entail the use of a single data structure throughout (e.g., not a single two-dimensional array throughout). Alternatively or additionally, the data set may incorporate metadata within a particular portion thereof that specifies the manner in which the data items are organized therein (e.g., as a header at the head of a data file that specifies the type of data structure and/or indexing scheme used), and the manner of organization of the data items may be sufficiently complex as to be prohibitively difficult to identify without reference to that metadata. If such a data set is then simply divided up into blocks and distributed among the multiple storage devices or multiple federated devices, it may be that different ones of the blocks are caused to include portions of different data structures from within the data set such that the manner in which the data items are organized within the data blocks differs among the data blocks such that the manner in which data is accessed within each data block may differ among the data blocks. Alternatively or additionally, where the data set incorporates metadata, it may be that just one of the blocks includes the metadata, and that one block may then be distributed to just one of the multiple storage devices or multiple federated devices, thereby depriving the others of the information needed to access and use the data items within the blocks that are distributed to them. To make the data items within the other blocks accessible to the storage devices or federated devices within which they are stored, the metadata would have to be transmitted to the other ones of the multiple storage devices or multiple federated devices by the one storage device or federated device, respectively, that received the metadata within the block that was distributed to it. 
     To avoid such situations, prior to the storage of such a data set within a federated area, the one or more federated devices that receive the data set may analyze the form of the data set upon its receipt to determine whether or not the data items therein are already organized in a manner that is homogeneous throughout the data set such that it is already in a distributable form in which it is amenable to being divided into blocks in which data items would be organized in an identical manner. In some embodiments, the type of homogeneous organization of data items within the set may be additionally required to match one of what may be a set of preselected types of homogeneous organization that may each employ a particular bit-wise and/or byte-wise formatting (e.g., a tabular format with a particular byte alignment), and/or a particular use of particular delimiters (e.g., as text made up of comma-separated variables or CSV). If the data set does not include a distinct metadata data structure, if the data items within the data set are organized in a homogeneous manner, and/or if that manner of organization is of a type that is among such a preselected set of types (in embodiments in which such a requirement exists), then the one or more federated devices may proceed to cooperate thereamong and/or with multiple storage devices to divide and store the data thereamong as multiple blocks in a distributed manner. 
     However, if the data set does include a distinct metadata data structure, or if the data items within the data set are not organized therein in a homogeneous manner, or if that manner of organization is of a type that is not among such a preselected set of types (again, in embodiments in which such a requirement exists), then the one or more federated devices that received the data set may convert the data set from the form in which it was received, and into a distributable form where there is no distinct metadata data structure, where the data items are organized therein in a homogeneous manner throughout, and/or where that homogeneous manner of organization is one of such preselected types. In so doing, where the original form of the data set includes a distinct metadata data structure, the one or more federated devices may use that metadata as a guide in accessing the data items therein, while generating a corresponding distributable form of the data set in which the same data items are organized in a homogeneous manner that, again, will enable the data items to be more readily accessible after the distributable form of the data set has been divided into multiple blocks. Following such conversion, the one or more federated devices may provide the distributable form of the data set to a set of multiple storage devices for being divided into blocks that are then distributed among the multiple storage devices as part of effecting distributed storage of the data set. 
     Also following such conversion, the one or more federated devices may store an indication of various aspects of the storage of the data set for future use in accessing it. More specifically, the one or more federated devices may generate an object location identifier that includes indications of such aspects, including and not limited to, which federated area it is stored within, which federated device(s) and/or storage device(s) it is stored within, its size, the fact that it is stored in a distributed manner, the fact that it is stored in a distributable form (e.g., data therein is organized in a homogeneous manner), and/or the fact of being converted into a distributable form. 
     Regardless of whether the data set was originally received already in a distributable form or was converted into a distributable form, with the distributable form of the data set now stored in a distributed manner, the homogeneous manner of storage of the data items within each of the blocks distributed to one of the multiple storage devices or federated devices enables an at least partially parallel performance of a job flow using each of the blocks as an input thereto in a manner that does not entail exchanges of information among the multiple storage devices. Stated differently, the data items within each block is able to be accessed and used locally within the device in which it is stored as an independent input to one of the parallel independent performances of a job flow within that device. 
     However, while such a large data set may be put through such conversion and then stored in such a distributed manner among the multiple storage devices such that there is a portion of the data set that is locally accessible to each of multiple storage devices or multiple federated devices, the other objects needed to perform a particular job flow may not be stored in a way in which each of those multiple devices has such local access to them. More precisely, the job flow definition and the task routines also needed to perform the job flow may each be stored as an undivided object within just a single one of those devices and/or within just a single one of still other devices. It should be noted that such objects as the job flow definition and each of the task routines may be expected to be of significantly smaller size than the data set (e.g., smaller than the predetermined threshold storage size) such that division into blocks for storage is deemed unnecessary. As a result, it may be that none or just one of those devices has local access to all of the objects needed to perform the particular job flow. 
     To address this issue, the one or more federated devices that may receive a request to perform the particular job flow may retrieve each of the other objects needed to perform the particular job flow from wherever they may be stored, and may then distribute copies of those other objects to each one of the multiple devices in which a block of the data set is stored. In so doing, the one or more federated devices may assemble those other objects into a container, along with additional executable instructions that enable the processor(s) of each of those devices in which one or more blocks of the data set are stored to perform the job flow using the block(s) of the data set that are stored therein, including the execution of the task routines. 
     The performance of the job flow with the data set as an input may be expected to result in the generation of another data object as an output (e.g., an output data set or a result report). However, since the performance of the job flow using the processing resources of those multiple devices is as multiple performances occurring at least partially in parallel, the output data object is necessarily generated as multiple separate blocks that each correspond to one of the blocks of the data set that was used as an input. In some embodiments, it may be a normal procedure to store the output data object in a federated area to preserve it for future analyses as part of the earlier described policy of maintaining accountability for the results of performing job flows. However, in other embodiments, there may be provided an ability for the request to perform the particular job flow to include the ability to specify which data objects are to be so preserved, and which are not. Thus, in such embodiments, where the output data object has not been specified as a data object to be preserved, the one or more federated devices that received the request to perform the particular job flow may delete the blocks of that output data object upon completion of the performance of the particular job flow and/or upon determining that the output data object is not used as an input to any other task within the job flow. 
     However, where the output data object (e.g., an output data set or a result report) is meant to be preserved in a federated area (either by default as part of normal procedures or as a result of being specified as a data object to be preserved), the one or more federated devices may retrieve and assemble the blocks of the output data object into a single undivided form of the output data object, assign it an identifier, and then cooperate with one or more storage devices or federated devices to store it within a federated area. Where the output data object, as assembled, is of a size that falls below the predetermined threshold storage size, the output data object may be deemed too small to necessitate being stored in a distributed manner as the data set was, and therefore, may be stored as a undivided data object within a single storage device or federated device. However, if the assembled output data object is of a size greater than the predetermined threshold storage size, then the output data object may then be divided back into multiple blocks and stored among multiple storage devices or multiple federated devices in a distributed manner, just as the data set was. Additionally, the one or more federated devices may store indications of various aspects of the storage of the output data object, including and not limited to, which federated area it is stored within, which federated device(s) and/or storage device(s) it is stored within, its size, whether it is stored in an undivided manner or in a distributed manner, and/or whether it is stored in a distributable form (e.g., if it is stored in a homogeneous form). 
     In some embodiments, the one or more federated devices may support the execution of a set of task routines written in differing programming languages as part of performing a job flow. As will be explained in greater detail, this may arise where it is deemed desirable to support collaborations among developers who are familiar with differing programming languages, but who are each contributing different objects, including task routines, to the development of a job flow. To enable this, the one or more federated devices may employ a multitude of runtime interpreters and/or compilers for a pre-selected set of multiple programming languages to execute such a set of task routines during the performance of a job flow. 
     As will also be explained in greater detail, during the performance of a job flow, there may instances of a task routine generating a data set as an output that is to then be used as an input to one or more other task routines (e.g., a mid-flow data set). That data set may be persisted by being stored in a federated area as a new data object that is assigned a unique identifier just as a data object received from a source device would be. As previously discussed, this may be done as part of enabling accountability concerning how an analysis is performed by preserving data sets that are generated as an output by one task routine for use as an input to another. However, where two or more task routines that exchange a data set thereamong are written in different programming languages, the data set so exchanged may be subjected to a conversion process to in some way change its form (e.g., serialization or de-serialization) to accommodate differences in data types and/or formats that are supported by the different programming languages (e.g., to resolve differences in the manner in which arrays are organized and/or accessed). Where such a conversion is performed, it may be that just one of the forms of the data set may be persisted to a federated area while the other form may be temporarily stored in a shared memory space that may be instantiated just for the duration of the performance of the job flow and that may be un-instantiated at the end of that performance. 
     In some embodiments, a request for a performance of a job flow may specify that the input/output behavior of the task routines used during the performance be verified. More specifically, it may be requested that the input/output behavior of the task routines that are executed during the performance of a job flow be monitored, and that the observed input/output behavior of each of those task routines with regard to accessing data objects and/or engaging in any other exchange of inputs and/or outputs be compared to the input and/or output interfaces that may be implemented by their executable instructions, that may be specified in any comments therein, and/or that may be specified in the job flow definition of the job flow that is performed. Each task routine that exhibits input/output behavior that remains compliant with such specifications during its execution may be in some way marked and/or recorded as having verified input/output behavior. Each task routine that exhibits input/output behavior that goes beyond such specifications may be in some way marked and/or recorded as having aberrant input/output behavior. 
     To perform such monitoring of the input/output behavior of task routines, each task routine that is executed during the performance of a particular job flow may be so executed within a container environment instantiated within available storage space by a processor of one of the federated devices. More specifically, such a container environment may be defined to limit accesses that may be made to other storage spaces outside the container environment and/or to input and/or output devices of the federated device. In effect, such a container environment may be given a set of access rules by which input/output behaviors that comply with input/output behaviors that are expected of particular task routine are allowed to proceed, while other input/output behaviors that go beyond the expected input/output behaviors may be blocked while the storage locations that were meant to be accessed by those aberrant input/output behaviors are recorded to enable accountability for such misbehavior by a task routine, and/or to serve as information that may be required by a programmer to correct a portion of the executable instructions within such a task routine to correct its input/output behavior. 
     By way of example, and still more specifically, such comments within a task routine and/or such specifications within a job flow definition may specify various aspects of its inputs and/or outputs, such data type, indexing scheme, etc. of data object(s), but may refrain from specifying any particular data object as part of an approach to allowing particular data object(s) to be specified by a job flow definition, or in any of a variety of other ways, during the performance of the job flow in which the task routine may be executed and/or that is defined by the job flow definition. Instead, a placeholder designator (e.g., a variable) may be specified that is to be given a value indicative of a specific data object during the performance of a job flow. Alternatively, where one or more particular data objects are specified, such specification of one or more particular data objects may be done as a default to address a situation in which one or more particular data objects are not specified by a job flow definition and/or in another way during performance of a job flow in which the task routine may be executed. Regardless of whether particular data objects are specified, following the retrieval and interpretation of such input/output specifications, a container environment may be instantiated that is configured to enable the task routine to be executed therein and that allows the task routine to engage in input/output behavior that conforms to those input/output specifications, but which does not allow the task routine to engage in aberrant input/output behavior that goes beyond what it is expected based on those input/output specifications. Depending on the input/output behavior that is observed as the task routine is so executed, the task routine may be marked as being verified as engaging in correct input/output behavior or may be marked as being observed engaging in aberrant input/output behavior. 
     In some embodiments, the marking of the results of such monitoring of input/output behavior of each task routine may be incorporated into task routine database(s) that may be used to organize the storage of task routines within one or more federated areas as part of enabling more efficient selection and retrieval of task routines for provision to a requesting device and/or for execution. In some of such embodiments, such marking of task routines may also play a role in which task routines are selected to be provided to a requesting device and/or to be executed as part of performing a job flow. As an alternative to such marking of such input/output behavior of a task routine being maintained by a task routine database, a separate and distinct data structure may be maintained within the federated area in which the task routine is stored as a repository of indications of such input/output behavior by the task routine and/or by multiple task routines (e.g., a data file of such indications). Alternatively or additionally, and regardless of the exact manner in which such indications of such input/output behavior of a task routine may be stored, in some embodiments, such stored indications of either correct or aberrant input/output behavior of a task routine may be reflected in instance logs from performances of job flows in which the task routine was executed and/or in a visual representation of the task routine in a DAG. 
     Some requests to perform a job flow may include a request to perform a specified job flow of an analysis with one or more specified data objects. Other requests may be to repeat a past performance of a job flow that begat a specified result report, or that entailed the use of a specific combination of a job flow and one or more data sets as inputs. Still other requests may specify the performance of a set of tasks using a set of data objects as inputs, but may not specify a job flow. Through the generation of identifiers for each of the various objects associated with each performance of a job flow, through the use of those identifiers to refer to such objects in instance logs, and through the use of those identifiers by the one or more federated devices in accessing such objects, requests for performances of analyses are able to more efficiently identify particular performances, their associated objects and/or related objects. 
     Regardless of the exact type of request received, each request may have formatting, syntax and/or other characteristics selected to cause the request to conform to one or more industry specifications for communications between devices. More specifically, the request may be generated by the requesting device to have characteristics conforming to one or more of the versions of the Message-Passing Interface (MPI) specification promulgated by the MPI Forum, which is a cooperative venture by numerous governmental, corporate and academic entities from around the world. Further, the manner in which the federated devices and/or storage devices communicate to effect the requested performance of the set of specified tasks may conform to one or more versions of the MPI specification, and/or the manner in which response(s) to the request are transmitted back to the requesting device may do so. 
     In embodiments in which a request is received to perform a specified job flow of an analysis with one or more specified data objects as inputs, the one or more federated devices may use the identifiers of those objects that are provided in the request to analyze the instance logs stored in one or more federated areas to determine whether there was a past performance of the same job flow with the same one or more data objects as inputs. If there was such a past performance, then the result report generated as the output of that past performance may already be stored in a federated area. As long as none of the task routines executed in the earlier performance have been updated since the earlier performance, then a repeat performance of the same job flow with the same one or more data objects serving as inputs may not be necessary. Thus, if any instance logs are found for such an earlier performance, the one or more federated devices may analyze the instance log associated with the most recent earlier performance (if there has been more than one past performance) to obtain the identifiers uniquely assigned to each of the task routines that were executed in that earlier performance. The one or more federated devices may then analyze each of the uniquely identified task routines to determine whether each of them continues to be the most current version stored in the federated area for use in performing its corresponding task. If so, then a repeated performance of the job flow with the one or more data objects identified in the request is not necessary, and the one or more federated devices may retrieve the result report generated by the past performance from a federated area and transmit that result report to the device from which the request was received. 
     However, if no instance logs are found for any past performance of the specified job flow with the specified one or more data objects that entailed the execution of the most current version of each of the task routines, then the one or more federated devices may perform the specified job flow with the specified data objects using the most current version of task routine for each task specified with a flow task identifier in the job flow definition. Indeed, and as will be explained in greater detail, it may be that the most current version of each task routine may be selected and used in performing a task by default, unless a particular earlier version is actually specified to be used. The one or more federated devices may then assign a unique identifier to and store the new result report generated during such a performance in a federated area, as well as transmit the new result report to the device from which the request was received. The one or more federated devices may also generate and store in a federated area a corresponding new instance log that specifies details of the performance, including the identifier of the job flow definition, the identifiers of all of the most current versions of task routines that were executed, the identifiers of the one or more data objects used as inputs and/or generated as outputs, and the identifier of the new result report that was generated. 
     In embodiments in which a request is received to repeat a past performance of a job flow of an analysis that begat a result report identified in the request by its uniquely assigned identifier, the one or more federated devices may analyze the instance logs stored in one or more federated areas to retrieve the instance log associated with the past performance that resulted in the generation of the identified result report. The one or more federated devices may then analyze the retrieved instance log to obtain the identifiers for the job flow definition that defines the job flow, the identifiers for each of the task routines executed in the past performance, and the identifiers of any data objects used as inputs in the past performance. Upon retrieving the identified job flow definition, each of the identified task routines, and any identified data objects, the one or more federated devices may then execute the retrieved task routines, using the retrieved data objects, and in the manner defined by the retrieved job flow definition to repeat the past performance of the job flow with those objects to generate a new result report. Since the request was to repeat an earlier performance of the job flow with the very same objects, the new result report should be identical to the earlier result report generated in the past performance such that the new result report should be a regeneration of the earlier result report. The one or more federated devices may then assign an identifier to and store the new result report in a federated area, as well as transmit the new result report to the device from which the request was received. The one or more federated devices may also generate and store, in a federated area, a corresponding new instance log that specifies details of the new performance of the job flow, including the identifier of the job flow definition, the identifiers of all of the task routines that were executed, the identifiers of the one or more data objects used as inputs and/or generated as outputs, and the identifier of the new result report. 
     In embodiments in which one or more federated devices may receive a request to perform a set of tasks specified in the request using one or more data objects also specified in the request as input(s) thereto, and without specifying a job flow definition that would define an order in which the set of tasks is to be performed, the one or more federated devices may analyze the specification of data objects as input(s) and/or output(s) of each task, and/or may analyze the definition of input and/or output interface(s) of each task, to identify dependencies thereamong, and to thereby identify opportunities for at least partially parallel performances thereamong. Where the request includes or is accompanied by one or more of the specified data objects, the one or more federated devices may store each such data object in a federated area prior to commencing performance of the one(s) of the specified tasks that require such data as input. 
     In various embodiments, a request may be received to perform a specified set of tasks using one or more data objects as inputs where the request makes no reference, either directly or indirectly, to any job flow definition that may already be stored in a federated area. Indeed, it may be that there is no pre-existing job flow definition for performing the specified set of tasks. The request may additionally specify which data object(s) that are generated as outputs during the performance of the set of tasks are to be stored within a federated area and/or are to be transmitted back to the device from which the request is received. The specification of each task in the request may include the specification of the one or more data objects that are to be used as its inputs, and/or may include the specification of the one or more data objects that are to be generated as outputs. Alternatively or additionally, the specification of each task in the request may define the input and/or output interfaces thereof, or there may be reliance on the definition of the input and/or output interfaces provided by the executable instructions and/or comments of the one or more task routines that perform each of the specified tasks when executed. In effect, it may be that the request, itself, includes at least a subset of the information that would normally be specified in a job flow definition. 
     In some of such requests, one or more objects required for the performance of the specified set of tasks may be provided along with the request. By way of example, one or more of the data objects to be used as an input may be directly incorporated into the request and/or may otherwise accompany the request. In response, the one or more federated devices may initially store such data object(s) in a federated area before commencing the requested performance of the set of tasks. 
     The one or more federated devices may analyze the specification in the request of each task, along with any specification in the request of data objects that are the input(s) and/or output(s) of each specified task, and/or along with any definition in the request of input and/or output interface(s) for each specified task, to identify dependencies among the specified tasks. From at least these identified dependencies, a job flow definition for the requested performance of the set of tasks may be derived. In so doing, the one or more federated devices may also identify opportunities for parallelism in which different ones of the specified tasks are able to be performed at least partially in parallel as a result of a lack of dependencies thereamong. 
     Alternatively or additionally, where a data object specified as an input is stored in a distributed manner across multiple federated devices or multiple storage devices, the one or more federated devices that received the request may employ such distributed storage as an opportunity for at least partially parallel performances of multiple instances of a task that requires that data object as an input by selecting the multiple federated devices or multiple storage devices in which that data object is stored to be used in performing that task. In this way, such a distributed object may be used in situ where it is already stored, thereby obviating the need to exchange portions of it among devices. To enable such partially parallel performances of that task, each of the selected federated devices or storage devices may be provided with a container that includes a copy of a task routine that is to be executed to cause the performance of the task within each of the selected devices, any other executable routines that may be needed to support the execution of that task routine, and/or any other data objects also required as an input to each of the at least partially parallel performances of that task. 
     Each such at least partially parallel performance of that task may generate a separate block of a data object as an output. As a result, such a data object is generated in a distributed form. The one or more federated devices may retrieve and perform a reduction operation on those blocks of the generated data object if the request includes an indication that the generated data object is to be stored in a federated area and/or is to be transmitted back to the requesting device from which the request was received. Otherwise, each of such blocks of the generated data object may be caused to simply remain stored within the federated device or the storage device within which it was generated, and may serve as an input to one of multiple at least partially parallel performances of another of the specified tasks. 
     In some embodiments, the one or more federated devices that received the request may initially attempt to determine whether the set of specified tasks has already been previously performed with the specified data object(s) as input. An attempt may be made to match the identifiers of the tasks specified in the request to an existing job flow definition in which the same set of tasks are performed. The identifier of that matching job flow definition may then be used along with the identifiers of each of the data objects specified in the request to attempt to identify an instance log that documents a past performance of the job flow defined by the matching job flow definition with the same data objects specified as inputs thereto. In response to having identified such a matching instance log, the identifier(s) provided therein for each of the data objects generated as output may be used to retrieve each of those output data objects, and then those output data objects may be transmitted to the requesting device in lieu of performing the set of tasks specified in the request. 
     The request may have formatting, syntax and/or other characteristics selected to cause the request to conform to one or more industry specifications for communications between devices. More specifically, the request may be generated by the requesting device to have characteristics conforming to one or more of the versions of the Message-Passing Interface (MPI) specification promulgated by the MPI Forum, which is a cooperative venture by numerous governmental, corporate and academic entities from around the world. Still more specifically, the request may generated to conform to the specification for OpenMPI, a variant of MPI promulgated by Software in the Public Interest (SPI) of New York, N.Y. in the USA. 
     In such embodiments, the manner in which each task, its inputs and/or its outputs are specified in the request may conform to a format for an application programming interface (API) associated with one or more of the versions of the MPI specification. Alternatively or additionally, the request may embed one or more of the specified data objects required as input the performance of the set of specified tasks as streaming data in accordance with one or more of the versions of the MPI specification. Further, the manner in which the federated devices and/or storage devices communicate to effect the requested performance of the set of specified tasks may conform to one or more versions of the MPI specification, and/or the manner in which response(s) to the request are transmitted back to the requesting device may do so. 
     In support enabling the objects stored within one or more federated areas to be used in performances of job flows, and/or in support of enabling accountability in analyzing aspects of a past performance of a job flow, a set of rules may be enforced by the one or more federated devices that limit what actions may be taken in connection with each object. Such enforced limitations in access to each object may be in addition to the aforementioned restrictions on accesses to federated area(s) that may be imposed on entities, persons and/or particular devices. Such rules may restrict what objects are permitted to be stored and/or when, and/or may restrict what objects are able to be altered and/or removed as part of preventing instances of there being “orphan” objects that are not accompanied in storage by other objects that may be needed to support a performance or a repetition of a performance of a job flow. Alternatively or additionally, such rules may restrict what objects are permitted to be stored and/or when as part of prevent instances of incompatibility between objects that are to be used together in a performance of a job flow. 
     By way of example, whether a job flow definition will be permitted to be stored within a federated area may be made contingent on whether, for each task that is specified in the job flow definition, there is at least one task routine that is already stored in the federated area and/or is about to be stored in the federated area along with the job flow definition. Such a rule that imposes such a condition on the storage of a job flow definition may be deemed desirable to prevent a situation in which there is a job flow definition stored in a federated area that defines a job flow that cannot be performed as a result of there being a task specified therein that cannot be performed due to the lack of storage in a federated area of any task routine that can be executed to perform that task. Similarly, and by way of another example, whether an instance log will be permitted to be stored within a federated area may be made contingent on whether each object identified in the instance log as being associated with a past performance of the job flow documented by the instance log is already stored in the federated area and/or is about to be stored in the federated area along with the instance log. Such a rule that imposes such a condition on the storage of an instance log may be deemed desirable to prevent a situation in which there is an instance log stored in a federated area that documents a past performance of a job flow that cannot be repeated due to the lack of storage in a federated area of an object specified in the instance log as being associated with that past performance. 
     By way of another example, whether a job flow definition will be permitted to be stored within a federated area may alternatively or additionally be made contingent on whether, the input and/or output interfaces specified for each task in the job flow definition are a sufficient match to the input and/or output definitions implemented by the already stored task routines that perform each of those tasks. Such a rule that imposes such a condition on the storage of a job flow definition may be deemed desirable to prevent incompatibilities between the specifications of interfaces in a job flow definition and the implementations of interfaces in the corresponding task routines. Similarly, and by way of still another example, whether a new version of a task routine that performs a particular task when executed will be permitted to be stored within a federated area may be made contingent on whether, the input and/or output definitions implemented within the new task routine are a sufficient match to the input and/or output definitions implemented by the one or more already stored task routines that also perform the same task. Such a rule that imposes such a condition on the storage of a new task routine may be deemed desirable to prevent incompatibilities between versions of task routines that perform the same task. 
     By way of still another example, whether a data object (e.g., flow input data set, a mid-flow data set, or result report) or a task routine is permitted to be deleted from a federated area may be made contingent on whether its removal would prevent a job flow that is defined in a job flow definition from being performed and/or whether its removal would prevent a past performance of a job flow that is documented by a instance log from being repeated. Such a rule that imposes such a condition may be deemed desirable to prevent a situation in which there is a job flow definition stored in a federated area that defines a job flow that cannot be performed due to the lack of storage in a federated area of any task routine that can be executed to perform one of the tasks specified in the job flow definition. Also, such a rule that imposes such a condition may be deemed desirable to prevent a situation in which there is an instance log stored in a federated area that documents a past performance of a job flow that cannot be repeated due to the lack of storage in a federated area of a data object or task routine specified in the instance log as being associated with that past performance. Similarly, and by way of yet another example, whether a job flow definition is permitted to be deleted from a federated area may be made contingent on whether its removal would prevent a past performance of the corresponding job flow that is documented by a instance log from being repeated. Such a rule that imposes such a condition may be deemed desirable to prevent a situation in which there is an instance log stored in a federated area that documents a past performance of a job flow that cannot be repeated due to the lack of storage in a federated area of the job flow definition for that job flow. 
     With such restrictions against the removal of objects from a federated area, an alternative that may be allowed by the set of rules may be the storing of newer versions of objects. By way of example, where an earlier version of a task routine or a job flow definition is determined to have flaws and/or to be in need of replacement for some other reason, the set of rules may allow a newer (and presumably improved) version of such a task routine or job flow definition to be stored so that it can be used instead of the earlier version. As previously discussed, while each version of each task routine may be assigned a unique identifier generated from the taking of a hash of thereof such that each version of each task routine is individually identifiable and selectable, each task routine is also assigned a flow task identifier that specifies the task that it performs when executed. As previously discussed, task routines may subsequently be searched for and selected based on their flow task identifiers, and use of the most current version of task routine to perform each task specified in a job flow by a flow task identifier may be the default rule. As a result, the storage of a new version of a task routine that performs a task identified by a particular flow task identifier may be relied upon to cause the use of any earlier versions of task routine that also perform that same task identified by that same flow task identifier to cease, except in situations where the use of a particular earlier version of task routine to perform a particular task is actually specified. 
     Through such pooling of older and newer versions of objects, through the provision of unique identifiers for each object, and through the enforcement of such a regime of rules restricting accesses that may be made to one or more federated areas, objects such as data sets, task routines and job flow definitions are made readily available for reuse under conditions in which their ongoing integrity against inadvertent and/or deliberate alteration is assured. The provision of a flow task identifier for each task may enable updated versions of task routines to be independently created and stored within one or more federated areas in a manner that associates those updated versions with earlier versions without concern of accidental overwriting of earlier versions. 
     As a result of such pooling of data sets and task routines, new analyses may be more speedily created through reuse thereof by generating new job flows that identify already stored data sets and/or task routines. Additionally, where a task routine is subsequently updated, advantage may be automatically taken of that updated version in subsequent performances of each job flow that previously used the earlier version of that task routine. And yet, the earlier version of that task routine remains available to enable a comparative analysis of the results generated by the different versions if discrepancies therebetween are subsequently discovered. Also, as a result of such pooling of data sets, task routines and job flows, along with instance logs and result reports, repeated performances of a particular job flow with a particular data set can be avoided. Through use of identifiers uniquely associated with each object and recorded within each instance log, situations in which a requested performance of a particular job flow with a particular data set that has been previously performed can be more efficiently identified, and the result report generated by that previous performance can be more efficiently retrieved and made available in lieu of consuming time and processing resources to repeat that previous performance. And yet, if a question should arise as to the validity of the results of that previous performance, the data set(s), task routines and job flow definition on which that previous performance was based remain readily accessible for additional analysis to resolve that question. 
     Also, where there is no previous performance of a particular job flow with a particular data set such that there is no previously generated result report and/or instance log therefor, the processing resources of the grid of federated devices may be utilized to perform the particular job flow with the particular data set. The ready availability of the particular data set to the grid of federated devices enables such a performance without the consumption of time and network bandwidth resources that would be required to transmit the particular data set and other objects to the requesting device to enable a performance by the requesting device. Instead, the transmissions to the requesting device may be limited to the result report generated by the performance. Also, advantage may be taken of the grid of federated devices to cause the performance of one or more of the tasks of the job flow as multiple instances thereof in a distributed manner (e.g., at least partially in parallel) among multiple federated devices and/or among multiple threads of execution support by processor(s) within each such federated device. 
     As a result of the requirement that the data set(s), task routines and the job flow associated with each instance log be preserved, accountability for the validity of results of past performances of job flows with particular data sets is maintained. The sources of incorrect results, whether from invalid data, or from errors made in the creation of a task routine or a job flow, may be traced and identified. By way of example, an earlier performance of a particular job flow with a particular data set using earlier versions of task routines can be compared to a later performance of the same job flow with the same data set, but using newer versions of the same task routines, as part of an analysis to identify a possible error in a task routine. As a result, mistakes can be corrected and/or instances of malfeasance can be identified and addressed. 
     The one or more federated devices may maintain one or more sets of federated areas that may be related to each other through a set of relationships that serve to define a hierarchy of federated areas in which the different federated areas may be differentiated by the degree of restriction of access thereto that may be enforced by the one or more federated devices. In some embodiments, a linear hierarchy may be defined in which there is a base federated area with the least restricted degree of access, a private federated area with the most restricted degree of access, and/or one or more intervening federated areas with intermediate degrees of access restriction interposed between the base and private federated areas. Such a hierarchy of federated areas may be created to address any of a variety of situations in support of any of a variety of activities, including those in which different objects stored thereamong require different degrees of access restriction. By way of example, while a new data set or a new task routine is being developed, it may be deemed desirable to maintain it within the private federated area or intervening federated area to which access is granted to a relatively small number of users (e.g., persons and/or other entities that may each be associated with one or more source devices and/or reviewing devices) that are directly involved in the development effort. It may be deemed undesirable to have such a new data set or task routine made accessible to others beyond the users involved in such development before such development is completed, such that various forms of testing and/or quality assurance have been performed. Upon completion of such a new data set or task routine, it may then be deemed desirable to transfer it, or a copy thereof, to the base federated area or other intervening federated area to which access is granted to a larger number of users. Such a larger number of users may be the intended users of such a new data set or task routine. 
     It may be that multiple ones of such linear hierarchical sets of federated areas may be combined to form a tree of federated areas with a single base federated area with the least restricted degree of access at the root of the tree, and multiple private federated areas as the leaves of the tree that each have more restricted degrees of access. Such a tree may additionally include one or more intervening federated areas with various intermediate degrees of access restriction to define at least some of the branching of hierarchies of federated areas within the tree. Such a tree of federated areas may be created to address any of a variety of situations in support of any of a variety of larger and/or more complex activities, including those in which different users that each require access to different objects at different times are engaged in some form of collaboration. By way of example, multiple users may be involved in the development of a new task routine, and each such user may have a different role to play in such a development effort. While the new task routine is still being architected and/or generated, it may be deemed desirable to maintain it within a first private federated area or intervening federated area to which access is granted to a relatively small number of users that are directly involved in that effort. Upon completion of such an architecting and/or generation process, the new task routine, or a copy thereof, may be transferred to a second private federated area or intervening federated area to which access is granted to a different relatively small number of users that may be involved in performing tests and/or other quality analysis procedures on the new task routine to evaluate its fitness for release for use. Upon completion of such testing and/or quality analysis, the new task routine, or a copy thereof, may be transferred to a third private federated area or intervening federated area to which access is granted to yet another relatively small number of users that may be involved in pre-release experimental use of the new task routine to further verify its functionality in actual use case scenarios. Upon completion of such experimental use, the new task routine, or a copy thereof, may be transferred to a base federated area or other intervening federated area to which access is granted to a larger number of users that may be the intended users of the new task routine. 
     In embodiments in which multiple federated areas form a tree of federated areas, each user may be automatically granted their own private federated area as part of being granted access to at least a portion of the tree. Such an automated provision of a private federated area may improve the ease of use, for each such user, of at least the base federated area by providing a private storage area in which a private set of job flow definitions, task routines, data sets and/or other objects may be maintained to assist that user in the development and/or analysis of other objects that may be stored in at least the base federated area. By way of example, a developer of task routines may maintain a private set of job flow definitions, task routines and/or data sets in their private federated area for use as tools in developing, characterizing and/or testing the task routines that they develop. The one or more federated devices may be caused, by such a developer, to use such job flow definitions, task routines and/or data sets to perform compilations, characterizing and/or testing of such new task routines within the private federated area as part of the development process therefor. Some of such private job flow definitions, task routines and/or data sets may include and/or may be important pieces of intellectual property that such a developer desires to keep to themselves for their own exclusive use (e.g., treated as trade secrets and/or other forms of confidential information). 
     A base federated area within a linear hierarchy or hierarchical tree of federated areas may be the one federated area therein with the least restrictive degree of access such that a grant of access to the base federated area constitutes the lowest available level of access that can be granted to any user. Stated differently, the base federated area may serve as the most “open” or most “public” space within a linear hierarchy or hierarchical tree of federated spaces. Thus, the base federated area may serve as the storage space at which may be stored job flow definitions, versions of task routines, data sets, result reports and/or instance logs that are meant to be available to all users that have been granted any degree of access to the set of federated areas of which the base federated area is a part. The one or more federated devices may be caused, by a user that has been granted access to at least the base federated area, to perform a job flow within the base federated area using a job flow definition, task routines and/or data sets stored within the base federated area. 
     In a linear hierarchical set of federated areas that includes a base federated area and just a single private federated area, one or more intervening federated areas may be interposed therebetween to support the provision of different levels of access to other users that don&#39;t have access to the private federated area, but are meant to be given access to more than what is stored in the base federated area. Such a provision of differing levels of access would entail providing different users with access to either just the base federated area, or to one or more intervening federated areas. Of course, this presumes that each user having any degree of access to the set of federated areas is not automatically provided with their own private federated area, as the resulting set of federated areas would then define a tree that includes multiple private federated areas, and not a linear hierarchy that includes just a single private federated area. 
     In a hierarchical tree of federated areas that includes a base federated area at the root and multiple private federated areas at the leaves of the tree, one or more intervening federated areas may be interposed between one or more of the private federated areas and the base federated areas in a manner that defines at least part of one or more branches of the tree. Through such branching, different private federated areas and/or different sets of private federated areas may be linked to the base federated area through different intervening federated areas and/or different sets of intervening federated areas. In this way, users associated with some private federated areas within one branch may be provided with access to one or more intervening federated areas within that branch that allow sharing of objects thereamong, while also excluding other users associated with other private federated areas that may be within one or more other branches. Stated differently, branching may be used to create separate sets of private federated areas where each such set of private federated areas is associated with a group of users that have agreed to more closely share objects thereamong, while all users within all of such groups are able to share objects through the base federated area, if they so choose. 
     In embodiments in which there are multiple federated areas that form either a single linear hierarchy or a hierarchical tree, each of the federated areas may be assigned one or more identifiers. It may be that each federated area is assigned a human-readable identifier, such as names that are descriptive of ownership (e.g., “Frank&#39;s”), names that are descriptive of degree of access (e.g., “public” vs. “private”), names of file system directories and/or sub-directories at which each of the federated areas may be located, and/or names of network identifiers by which each federated area may be accessible on a network. However, it may be that each federated area is also assigned a randomly generated identifier with a large enough bit width that it is highly likely that each such identifier is unique across all federated areas anywhere in the world (e.g., a “global” identifier or “GUID”). Such a unique identifier for each federated area may provide a mechanism to resolve identification conflicts where perhaps two or more federated areas may have been given identical human-readable identifiers. 
     In one example of assignment and use of identifiers, a set of federated areas that form either a single linear hierarchy or hierarchical tree may be assigned identifiers that make the linear hierarchy or hierarchical tree navigable through the use of typical web browsing software. More specifically, one or more federated devices may generate the portal to enable access, by a remote device, to the set of federated areas from across a network using web access protocols, file transfer protocols and/or other protocols in which each of multiple federated areas is provided with a human-readable identifier in the form of a uniform resource locator (URL). In so doing, the URLs assigned thereto may be structured to reflect the hierarchy that has been defined among the federated areas therein. Thus, for a tree of federated areas, the base federated area at the root of the tree may be assigned the shortest and simplest URL, and such a URL given to the base federated area may be indicative of a name given to that entire tree of federated areas. In contrast, the URL of each federated area at a leaf of the tree may include a combination (e.g., a concatenation) of at least a portion of the URL given to the base federated area, and at least a portion of the URL given to any intervening federated area in the path between the federated area at the leaf and the base federated area. 
     In embodiments of either a linear hierarchy of federated areas or a hierarchical tree of federated areas, one or more relationships that affect the manner in which objects may be accessed and/or used may be put in place between each private federated area and the base federated area, as well as through any intervening federated areas therebetween. Among such relationships may be an inheritance relationship in which, from the perspective of a private federate area, objects stored within the base federated area, or within any intervening federated area therebetween, may be treated as if they are also stored directly within the private federated area for purposes of being available for use in performing a job flow within the private federated area. As will be explained in greater detail, the provision of such an inheritance relationship may aid in enabling and/or encouraging the reuse of objects by multiple users by eliminating the need to distribute multiple copies of an object among multiple private federated areas in which that object may be needed for performances of job flows within each of those private federated areas. Instead, a single copy of such an object may be stored within the base federated area and will be treated as being just as readily available for use in performances of job flows within each of such private federated areas. 
     Also among such relationships may be a priority relationship in which, from the perspective of a private federated area, the use of a version of an object stored within the private federated area may be given priority over the use of another version of the same object stored within the base federated area, or within any intervening federated area therebetween. More specifically, where a job flow is to be performed within a private federated area, and there is one version of a task routine to perform a task of the job flow stored within the private federated area and another version of the task routine to perform the same task stored within the base federated area, use of the version of the task routine stored within the private federated area may be given priority over use of the other version stored within the base federated area. Further, such priority may be given to using the version stored within the private federated area regardless of whether the other version stored in the base federated area is a newer version. Stated differently, as part of performing the job flow within the private federated area, the one or more federated devices may first search within the private federated area for any needed task routines to perform each of the tasks specified in the job flow, and upon finding a task routine to perform a task within the private federated area, no search may be performed of any other federated area to find a task routine to perform that same task. It may be deemed desirable to implement such a priority relationship as a mechanism to allow a user associated with the private federated area to choose to override the automatic use of a version of a task routine within the base federated area (or an intervening federated area therebetween) due to an inheritance relationship by storing the version of the task routine that they prefer to use within the private federated area. 
     Also among such relationships may be a dependency relationship in which, from the perspective of a private federated area, some objects stored within the private federated area may have dependencies on objects stored within the base federated area, or within an intervening federated area therebetween. More specifically, as earlier discussed, the one or more federated devices may impose a rule that the task routines upon which a job flow depends may not be deleted such that the one or more federated devices may deny a request received from a remote device to delete a task routine that performs a task identified by a flow task identifier that is referred to by at least one job flow definition stored. Thus, where the private federated area stores a job flow definition that includes a flow task identifier specifying a particular task to be done, and the base federated area stores a task routine that performs that particular task, the job flow of the job flow definition may have a dependency on that task routine continuing to be available for use in performing the task through an inheritance relationship between the private federated area and the base federated area. In such a situation, the one or more federated devices may deny a request that may be received from a remote device to delete that task routine from the base federated area, at least as long as the job flow definition continues to be stored within the private federated area. However, if that job flow definition is deleted from the private federated area, and if there is no other job flow definition that refers to the same task flow identifier, then the one or more federated devices may permit the deletion of that task routine from the base federated area. 
     In embodiments in which there is a hierarchical tree of federated areas that includes at least two branches, a relationship may be put in place between two private and/or intervening federated areas that are each within a different one of two branches by which one or more objects may be automatically transferred therebetween by the one or more federated devices in response to one or more conditions being met. As previously discussed, the formation of branches within a tree may be indicative of the separation of groups of users where there may be sharing of objects among users within each such group, such as through the use of one or more intervening federated areas within a branch of the tree, but not sharing of objects between such groups. However, there may be occasions in which there is a need to enable a relatively limited degree of sharing of objects between federated areas within different branches. Such an occasion may be an instance of multiple groups of users choosing to collaborate on the development of one or more particular objects such that those particular one or more objects are to be shared among the multiple groups where, otherwise, objects would not normally be shared therebetween. On such an occasion, the one or more federated devices may be requested to instantiate a transfer area through which those particular one or more objects may be automatically transferred therebetween upon one or more specified conditions being met. In some embodiments, the transfer area may be formed as an overlap between two federated areas of two different branches of a hierarchical tree. In other embodiments, the transfer area may be formed within the base federated area to which users associated with federated areas within different branches may all have access. 
     In some embodiments, the determination of whether the condition(s) for a transfer have been met and/or the performance of the transfer of one or more particular objects may be performed using one or more transfer routines to perform transfer-related tasks called for within a transfer flow definition. In such embodiments, a transfer routine may be stored within each of the two federated areas between which the transfer is to occur. Within the federated area that the particular one or more objects are to be transferred from, the one or more federated devices may be caused by the transfer routine stored therein to repeatedly check whether the specified condition(s) have been met, and if so, to then transfer copies of the particular one or more objects into the transfer area. Within the federated area that the particular one or more objects are to be transferred to, the one or more federated devices may be caused by the transfer routine stored therein to repeatedly check whether copies of the particular one or more objects have been transferred into the transfer area, and if so, to then retrieve the copies of the particular one or more objects from the transfer area. 
     A condition that triggers such automated transfers may be any of a variety of conditions that may eventually be met through one or more performances of a job flow within the federated area from which one or more objects are to be so transferred. More specifically, the condition may be the successful generation of particular results data that may include a data set that meets one or more requirements that are specified as the condition. Alternatively, the condition may be the successful generation and/or testing of a new task routine such that there is confirmation in a result report or in the generation of one or more particular data sets that the new task routine has been successfully verified as meeting one or more requirements that are specified as the condition. As will be explained in greater detail, the one or more performances of a job flow that may produce an output that causes the condition to be met may occur within one or more processes that may be separate from the process in which a transfer routine is executed to repeatedly check whether the condition has been met. Also, each of such processes may be performed on a different thread of execution of a processor of a federated device, or each of such processes may be performed on a different thread of execution of a different processor from among multiple processors of either a single federated device or multiple federated devices. 
     By way of example, multiple users may be involved in the development of a new neural network or a new ensemble of neural networks (e.g., a chain of neural networks), and each such user may have a different role to play in such a development effort. While the new neural network or neural network ensemble is being developed through a training process, it may be deemed desirable to maintain the data set(s) of weights and biases that is being generated through numerous iterations of training within a first intervening federated area to which access is granted to a relatively small number of users that are directly involved in that training effort. Upon completion of such training, a copy of the resulting one or more data sets of weights and biases may be transferred to a second intervening federated area to which access is granted to a different relatively small number of users that may be involved in testing the neural network or neural network ensemble defined by the data set(s) to evaluate fitness for release for at least experimental use. The transfer of the copy of one or more data set(s) from the first intervening federated area to the second intervening federated area may be triggered by the training having reached a stage at which a predetermined condition is met that defines the completion of training, such as a quantity of iterations of training having been performed. Upon completion of such testing of the neural network or neural network ensemble, a copy of the one or more data sets of weights and biases may be transferred from the second intervening federated area to a third intervening federated area to which access is granted to yet another relatively small number of users that may be involved in pre-release experimental use of the neural network or neural network ensemble to further verify functionality in actual use case scenarios. Like the transfer to the second intervening federated area, the transfer of a copy of the one or more data sets from the second intervening federated area to the third intervening federated area may be triggered by the testing having reached a stage at which a predetermined condition was met that defines the completion of testing, such as a threshold of a characteristic of performance of the neural network or neural network ensemble having been determined to have been met during testing. Upon completion of such experimental use, a copy of the one or more data sets of weights and biases may be transferred from the third federated area to a base federated area to which access is granted to a larger number of users that may be the intended users of the new neural network. 
     Such a neural network or neural network ensemble may be generated as part of an effort to transition from performing a particular analytical function using non-neuromorphic processing (i.e., processing in which no neural network is used) to performing the same analytical function using neuromorphic processing (i.e., processing in which one or more neural networks are used). Such a transition may represent a tradeoff in accuracy for speed, as the performance of the analytical function using neuromorphic processing may not achieve the perfect accuracy (or at least the degree of accuracy) that is possible via the performance of the analytical function using non-neuromorphic processing, but the performance of the analytical function using neuromorphic processing may be faster by one or more orders of magnitude, depending on whether the neural network or neural network ensemble is implemented with software-based simulations of artificial neurons executed by one or more CPUs or GPUs, or hardware-based implementations of artificial neurons provided by one or more neuromorphic devices. 
     Where the testing of such a neural network or neural network ensemble progresses successfully such that it begins to be put to actual use, there may be a gradual transition from the testing to the usage that may be automatically implemented in a staged manner. Initially, non-neuromorphic and neuromorphic implementations of the analytical function may be performed at least partially in parallel with the same input data values being provided to both, and with the corresponding output data values of each being compared to test the degree of accuracy of the neural network or neural network ensemble in performing the analytical function. In such initial, at least partially parallel, performances, priority may be given to providing processing resources to the non-neuromorphic implementation, since the non-neuromorphic implementation is still the one that is in use. As the neural network or neural network ensemble demonstrates a degree of accuracy that at least meets a predetermined threshold, the testing may change such that the neuromorphic implementation is used, and priority is given to providing processing resources to it, while the non-neuromorphic implementation is used at least partially in parallel solely to provide output data values for further comparisons to corresponding ones provided by the neuromorphic implementation. Presuming that the neural network or neural network ensemble continues to demonstrate a degree of accuracy that meets or exceeds the predetermined threshold, further use of the non-neuromorphic implementation of the analytical function may cease, entirely. 
     In various embodiments, a somewhat similar temporary relationship may be instantiated between one or more selected federated areas and a storage space that is entirely external to the one or more federated devices and/or to the one or more federated areas, such as an external storage space maintained by a source device or a reviewing device. The federated area(s) selected for such a relationship may, again, include private federated area(s) and/or other federated area(s) used to store one or more objects that may be under development and/or associated with an analysis routine that may be under development. The purpose of such a relationship may be to cause the automatic synchronization of changes made to objects stored within each of the selected federated area(s) and the external storage space, as previously discussed. In some of such embodiments, automatic synchronization may be effected simply by transferring a copy of an object modified within a transfer area within a federated to a corresponding transfer area within the external storage space and vice versa such that both transfer areas are caused to have identical objects. 
     As with the aforedescribed automatic transfers between transfer areas defined within federated areas, any of a variety of conditions may be specified as the trigger for causing such automated transfers, such as the aforementioned examples of the successful completion of testing of an object (e.g., a task routine) and/or of a neural network (or an ensemble of neural networks) as a trigger. As an alternate example, the trigger may be an instance in which an object is in someway marked or otherwise indicated as having been completed to a degree that a developer working in one of these development environments desires to make it available to the other developers working in the other of these development environments. Such marking may be associated with a process in which an object and/or changes thereto are “committed” to a pool of other objects stored within a transfer area that have also been deemed and marked as similarly complete. Thus, upon an object having been so marked in one transfer area, the one or more federated devices may cause a copy thereof to be transferred to other transfer area with which the one transfer area is synchronized and to be similarly marked such that the fact of that object (or changes made thereto) having been “committed” is made evident at both transfer areas. 
     It should be noted that, unlike the one or more federated areas maintained by the one or more federated devices with the aforementioned set of rules that enforce conditions on when objects may be stored within federated area(s) and/or removed therefrom, there may be no such set of rules that are employed to provide similar restrictions for such an external storage space. Thus, synchronization between one or more selected federated areas and such an external storage space may necessitate providing the ability to at least temporarily suspend the enforcement of such rules for the one or more selected federated areas, at least where new objects and/or changes to objects are effected by the occurrence of transfers from the external storage space and to one of the one or more selected federated areas. It may be that the formation of such a relationship between each of the one or more selected federated areas and an external storage space is limited to private federated area(s) so as to avoid having a federated area in which there is such a suspension of rules that also becomes a federated area from which other federated areas may inherit objects. Alternatively or additionally, it may be that a portion of each of the one or more selected federated areas is designated as a transfer area that becomes the portion thereof in which the contents therein are kept synchronized with a corresponding transfer area within the external storage space. 
     In such example embodiments as are described above in which a selected federated area and the external storage space are both employed as shared storage spaces to enable the collaborative development of objects among multiple developers, such transfers to synchronize the conditions of objects therebetween may be performed bi-directionally such that changes to objects made within either location are reflected in the corresponding objects within the other location. As will be explained in greater detail, in embodiments in which such a collaboration is intended to result in the generation of a full set of objects needed to perform a job flow within the one or more federated areas, it may be that there are limits imposed on the bi-directionality of the exchanges such that, for example, job flow definitions may be exchanged bi-directionally, but not task routines. This may be the case where the developers who access the external storage space, but not the one or more federated areas, may be generating task routines and/or job flow definitions in a different programming language from the developers who access the one or more federated areas. Thus, in such a collaboration, task routines that may be accepted from the external storage space through such a synchronization relationship, but no task routines developed within the one or more federated areas may be transmitted back to the external storage space. In contrast, the job flow definition that defines the job flow under development may be transferred in either direction between to enable both groups of developers to be guided by the definition of the job flow therein and/or to enable either of these two groups of developers to modify it as the job flow evolves throughout its development. 
     There may be other embodiments in which an external storage space is used to disseminate new objects among multiple persons and/or entities that do not have access to the selected one or more federated areas, and the transfers to synchronize the conditions of objects therebetween may be entirely unidirectional from the designated federated area and to the external storage space. More specifically, it may be that fully developed and tested objects deemed ready for widespread dissemination for use by others are caused to be stored within the designated federated area (or within a portion thereof that is designated as a transfer area), and the fact that such an object has been stored therein may be used as the trigger to cause the automatic transfer of a copy of that object to the external storage space, while in contrast, there may be no automated transfers of objects back to the federated area from the external storage space. 
     Regardless of the exact manner in which objects are received by the one or more federated devices for storage in a federated area, it may be that at least some of those received objects may be written in a variety of different programming languages. More specifically, while some objects may be received that are written in a primary programming language that is normally expected to be interpreted by the one or more federated devices during a performance of a job flow (e.g., the SAS programming language), other objects may be received that may be written in one of a pre-selected set of secondary programming languages that the one or more federated devices may also be capable of interpreting during a performance of a job flow (e.g., C, R, Python™). 
     As will be explained in greater detail, it may be deemed desirable to provide support for objects written in such secondary language(s) to enable programmers who are unfamiliar with the primary language to nonetheless avail themselves of the various benefits of federated areas. Additionally, supporting such secondary languages may enable programmers who are unfamiliar with the primary language and/or the features of federated areas, the highly structured nature of federated areas and/or the writing of programs for a many-task computing environment to still be able to collaborate with other programmers who are familiar therewith. 
     As part of supporting the use of one or more secondary programming languages, some limited degree of translation of programming languages may be performed on portions of objects received by the one or more federated devices. More specifically, the one or more federated devices may automatically translate portion(s) of a job flow definition that defines input and/or output interfaces for each task specified as part of its job flow, and/or may translate portion(s) of a task routine that implements input and/or output interfaces. Such translations may be from both the primary programming language and any of the pre-selected secondary programming languages, and into a single type of intermediate representation, such as an intermediate data structure or an intermediate programming language. An example intermediate programming language that may be so used may be JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) promulgated by ECMA International of Geneva, Switzerland. This may enable comparisons to be made among specifications and/or implementations of input and/or output interfaces to be performed, regardless of which of the programming languages were used to write the specifications and/or implementations of those input and/or output interfaces. In this way, multiple programming languages are able to be accommodated while still using such comparisons to enforce the earlier described rules that may be used to limit what job flow definitions and/or task routines may be permitted to be stored within the one or more federated areas. 
     In some embodiments, the performance of translations from the primary programming language and/or secondary programming language(s) may be limited to such translations of specifications and/or implementations of input and/or output interfaces into such an intermediate representation for such comparisons. It may be deemed undesirable and/or unnecessary to translate other portions of task routines and/or job flow definitions to perform such comparisons and/or for any other purpose. 
     However, in other embodiments, it may deemed desirable to perform translations to the extent needed to derive a task routine written in the primary programming language from a task routine written a secondary programming language. This may be deemed desirable to enable developers who are generating objects required for a job flow in the primary programming language to have access to a version of the job flow definition that is also written in the primary programming to serve as a guide for their work and/or to enable them to make modifications thereto. In embodiments in which it is just the portion(s) of a job flow that define input and/or output interfaces that are written in a particular programming language, the translation thereof into the intermediate representation (e.g., an intermediate programming language) may be used as the basis for translations between primary and secondary programming languages. More specifically, where a job flow definition is received in which portion(s) that define input and/or output interfaces are written in a secondary programming language, the intermediate representation into which those portion(s) are translated to enable the aforedescribed comparisons may also be used as the basis to generate corresponding portion(s) that define the input and/or output interfaces in the primary language as part of a translated form of the job flow definition. In such embodiments, it may be the translated form of the job flow definition that is then stored, instead of the originally received job flow definition. 
     Additionally, in such embodiments in which a translated form of a job flow definition with input and/or output interface definitions in the primary language may be generated from an originally received job flow definition that includes input and/or output interface definitions in a secondary language, it may be that such translations are performed bi-directionally as part of further supporting a collaboration among a combination of developers in which both the primary and secondary languages are used. More specifically, where a job flow definition in which input and/or output interface definitions are written in the primary language, an intermediate representation into which those portion(s) are translated to enable the aforedescribed comparisons may also be used as the basis to generate corresponding input and/or output interface definitions in a secondary programming language. Such a reverse translation may be performed regardless of whether the job flow definition with input and/or output definitions was originally written in the primary programming language, or was translated into the primary programming language from an originally received job flow definition written in a secondary programming language. This may be deemed desirable to enable developers who are generating objects required for a job flow in a secondary programming language to have access to a version of the job flow definition that is also written in the secondary programming to serve as a guide for their work and/or to enable them to make modifications thereto. 
     By providing such translations of a job flow definition back and forth between the primary programming language and a secondary programming language, either the developers who write in the primary programming language or the developers who write in the secondary programming language are able to read and/or edit the job flow definition in their chosen programming language. In this way, the developers using the secondary programming language are put on a more equal footing as collaborators with the developers using the primary programming language as developers of either group are able to participate in shaping the definition of the job flow to which both groups are contributing objects. 
     As previously discussed, in some embodiments, a job flow definition may additionally include executable GUI instructions to implement a GUI interface that is to be provided during a performance of the job flow that is defined therein. In such embodiments, it may be deemed desirable to provide more extensive translation capabilities to enable the translation of GUI instructions between programming languages as part of providing a translated form of a job flow definition with input and/or output definitions, and also GUI instructions, written in the primary programming language from a received job flow definition with input and/or output definitions, and also GUI instructions, written in a secondary programming language, and vice versa. 
     In various embodiments, a set of objects needed to perform an analysis may effectively be provided to the one or more federated devices in the form of a complex data structure such as a spreadsheet data structure. Such a data structure may contain the equivalent of one or more data sets organized as two-dimensional arrays (e.g., tables) therein, may contain one or more calculations of the analysis organized as multiple equations that may each be stored in a separate row, and/or may specify one or more graphs that are to be presented based on a performance of the analysis. The one or more federated devices may interpret such a data structure to derive therefrom the set of objects needed to perform the analysis defined within the data structure as a job flow in which the analysis is divided into tasks that are each performed as a result of executing a corresponding task routine. 
     More precisely, the multiple equations within the data structure may be analyzed, along with the organization of the data into one or more two-dimensional arrays within the data structure, to derive definitions of input and output interfaces for each of the equations and to identify each distinct data object. The multiple equations may also be analyzed, in view of the derived input and/or output interface definitions, to identify the dependencies thereamong. Various checks may be made for instances of mismatched interfaces, missing data that is required as input and/or unused data to determine whether the contents of the data structure set forth analysis a complete analysis that is able to be performed. Presuming that the analysis is determined to be performable, a job flow definition may be derived based on the input and/or output interfaces and the identified dependencies in which each of the equations may be treated as a task of the job flow that is defined by the job flow definition. Each equation may be parsed to generate a corresponding task routine to perform the task of that equation, as specified in the job flow definition. Each identified data object may be generated from a two-dimensional array or a portion of a two-dimensional array within the data structure. This set of generated data objects may then be stored within the federated area into which it was requested that the data structure be stored. In some embodiments, the data structure, itself, may also be stored within the federated area as a measure to provide accountability for the quality of the conversion of the data structure into the set of objects. 
     In various embodiments, the one or more federated devices may receive a request to provide one or more related objects together in a packaged form that incorporates one or more features that enable the establishment of one or more new federated areas that contain the related objects within the requesting device or within another device to which the packaged form may be relayed. In some embodiments, the packaged form may be that of a “zip” file in which the one or more related objects are compressed together into a single file that may also include executable code that enables the file to decompress itself, and in so doing, may also instantiate the one or more new federated areas. Such a packaged form may additionally include various executable routines and/or data structures (e.g., indications of hash values, such as checksum values, etc.) that enable the integrity of the one or more related objects to be confirmed, and/or that enable job flows based on the one or more related objects to be performed. In generating the packaged form, the one or more federated devices may employ various criteria specified in the request for which objects are to be provided in the packaged form to confirm that the objects so provided are a complete enough set of objects as to enable any job flow that may be defined by those objects to be properly performed. 
     In various embodiments, one or more of comments descriptive of input and/or output interfaces within one or more task routines, portions of instructions within one or more task routines that implement input and/or output interfaces, and specifications of input and/or output interfaces provided in one or more job flow definitions may be used to generate a DAG of one or more task routines and/or of a job flow. More precisely, such information may be used to build any of a variety of data structure(s) that correlate inputs and/or outputs to tasks and/or the task routines that are to perform those tasks, and from which a DAG for one or more task routines and/or a job flow may be generated and/or visually presented. In some embodiments, such a data structure may include script generated in a markup language and/or a block of programming code for each task or task routine (e.g., a macro employing syntax from any of a variety of programming languages). Regardless of the form of the data structure(s) that are generated, such a data structure may also specify the task routine identifier assigned to each task routine and/or the flow task identifier identifying the task performed by each task routine. 
     Which one or more task routines are to be included in such a DAG may be specified in any of a variety of ways. By way of example, a request may be received for a DAG that includes one or more tasks or task routines that are explicitly identified by their respective flow task identifiers and/or task routine identifiers. By way of another example, a request may be received for a DAG that includes all of the task routines currently stored within a federated area that may be specified by a URL. By way of still another example, a request may be received for a DAG that includes task routines for all of the tasks identified within a specified job flow definition. And, by way of yet another example, a request may be received for a DAG that includes all of the task routines specified by their identifiers in an instance log of a previous performance of a job flow. Regardless of the exact manner in which one or more tasks and/or task routines may be specified in a request for inclusion within a DAG, each task routine that is directly identified or that is specified indirectly through the flow task identifier of the task it performs may be searched for within one or more federated areas as earlier described. 
     In situations in which a DAG is requested that is to include multiple tasks and/or task routines, the DAG may be generated to indicate any dependencies thereamong. In some embodiments, a visualization of the DAG may be generated to provide a visual indication of such a dependency, such as a line, arrow, color coding, graphical symbols and/or other form of visual connector indicative of the dependency may be generated within the visualization to visually link an output of the one task routine to an input of the other. In embodiments in which the parsing of task routines and/or of job flows includes comparisons between pieces of information that may result in the detection of discrepancies in such details as dependencies among tasks and/or among task routines, such discrepancies may be visually indicated in a DAG in any of a variety of ways. By way of example, a DAG may be generated to indicate such discrepancies with color coding, graphical symbols and/or other form of visual indicator positioned at or adjacent to the graphical depiction of the affected input or output in the DAG. Such a visual indicator may thereby serve as a visual prompt to personnel viewing the DAG to access the affected task routine(s) and/or affected job flow definition to examine and/or correct the discrepancy. Alternatively or additionally, at least a pair of alternate DAGs may be generated, and personnel may be provided with a user interface (UI) that enables “toggling” therebetween and/or a side-by-side comparison, where one DAG is based on the details of inputs and/or outputs provided by comments while another DAG is based on the manner in which those details are actually implemented in executable code. 
     In some embodiments, with a DAG generated and visually presented for viewing by personnel involved in the development of new task routines and/or new job flow definitions, such personnel may be provided with a UI that enables editing of the DAG. More specifically, a UI may be provided that enables depicted dependencies between inputs and outputs of task routines to be removed or otherwise changed, and/or that enables new dependencies to be added. Through the provision of such a UI, personnel involved in the development of new task routines and/or new job flow definitions may be able to define a new job flow by modifying a DAG generated from one or more task routines. Indeed, the one or more task routines may be selected for inclusion in a DAG for the purpose of having them available in the DAG for inclusion in the new job flow. Regardless of whether or not a DAG generated from one or more task routines is edited as has just been described, a UI may be provided to enable personnel to choose to save the DAG as a new job flow definition. Regardless of whether the DAG is saved for use as a job flow definition, or simply to retain the DAG for future reference, the DAG may be stored as a script generated in a process description language such as business process model and notation (BPMN) promulgated by the Object Management Group of Needham, Mass., USA. 
     As an alternative to receiving a request to generate a DAG based on at least one or more task routines, a request may be received by one or more federated devices from another device to provide the other device with objects needed to enable the other device to so generate a DAG. In some embodiments, such a request may be treated in a manner similar to earlier described requests to retrieve objects needed to enable another device to perform a job flow with most recent versions of task routines or to repeat a past performance of a job flow, as documented by an instance log. However, in some embodiments, the data structure(s) generated from parsing task routines and/or a job flow definition may be transmitted to the other device in lieu of transmitting the task routines, themselves. This may be deemed desirable as a mechanism to reduce the quantity of information transmitted to the other device for its use in generating a DAG. 
     Regardless of whether a requested DAG is to include a depiction of a single task routine or of multiple task routines, it may be that, prior to the receipt of the request for the DAG, one or more of the task routines to be depicted therein may have been test executed to observe their input/output behavior within a container environment as previously described. As also previously discussed, an indication of the input/output behavior observed under such container environment conditions for each task routine so tested may be stored in any of a variety of ways to enable its subsequent retrieval. It may be that an indication of the input/output behavior that was observed may be positioned next to the depiction of a corresponding task routine within the requested DAG. 
     In embodiments that use a resource allocation routine to distribute resources to support MTC through the instantiation of containers and/or pods across multiple devices and/or VMs, the generation of complex DAGs and/or other forms of visualization may be at least partially performed by actually using MTC. More specifically, where at least some tasks are of a task type that requires access to particular specialized resources provided by just a subset of federated devices, it may be that generating views of objects that are in some way associated with such task types requires the performance of at least some tasks within such a subset of devices in order to have access to those specialized resources. Such specialized resources may include, and are not limited to, specialized processing components (e.g., GPUs or neuromorphic devices) incorporated into that subset, decryption and/or decompression components incorporated into that subset, decryption and/or decompression routines licensed for use only within that subset, and/or data objects licensed to be accessible only through that subset. 
     As part of enabling the use of task routines executed within such federated devices to generate a desired view of a specified object, it may be that a job flow definition that describes a job flow for generating that view is automatically generated in response to receiving the request for that view. A request for the generation of such a job flow definition may be stored on a job queue in a manner very much like a request for a performance of a job flow that is described in an already existing job flow definition. Such a job flow generation request may be relayed from the job queue and onto a task queue to enable the generation of a job flow that is being requested to be “claimed” (or acceded to) by a task pod and/or container that is instantiated within one of the federated devices of such a subset of federated devices such that the particular resource(s) that are needed are available for use in fulfilling the request to generate the new job flow for generating the requested view. 
     Within such task pod and/or container may be an instance of an interpreting routine that would otherwise normally be used in executing task routines, but is, instead, used to analyze various aspects of executable code, inline comments, data values and/or other content within the specified object. The job flow definition for generating the requested view may then be generated within the task pod and/or container based on such analyses of the content of the specified object, thereby defining a job flow for the generation of the requested view. The newly generated job flow definition may then be conveyed in completion messages back through the task and job queues to be made available for use, and then, a job performance request to perform the flow defined by that job flow definition may be stored on the job queue to thereby cause the requested view of the specified object to actually be generated. 
     Upon completion of the generation of the requested view of the specified object, the newly generated view may then be transmitted back to the device from which the original request to generate the view was received. In some embodiments, it may be that the newly generated job flow definition is stored within a federated area as part of providing accountability for its generation. Alternatively, the newly generated job flow definition for generating the requested view may be discarded following provision of that requested view to the device from which the request was received. 
     With general reference to notations and nomenclature used herein, portions of the detailed description that follows may be presented in terms of program procedures executed by a processor of a machine or of multiple networked machines. These procedural descriptions and representations are used by those skilled in the art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. A procedure is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of operations leading to a desired result. These operations are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical, magnetic or optical communications capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It proves convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to what is communicated as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. It should be noted, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to those quantities. 
     Further, these manipulations are often referred to in terms, such as adding or comparing, which are commonly associated with mental operations performed by a human operator. However, no such capability of a human operator is necessary, or desirable in most cases, in any of the operations described herein that form part of one or more embodiments. Rather, these operations are machine operations. Useful machines for performing operations of various embodiments include machines selectively activated or configured by a routine stored within that is written in accordance with the teachings herein, and/or include apparatus specially constructed for the required purpose. Various embodiments also relate to apparatus or systems for performing these operations. These apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purpose or may include a general purpose computer. The required structure for a variety of these machines will appear from the description given. 
     Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the novel embodiments can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate a description thereof. The intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives within the scope of the claims. 
     Systems depicted in some of the figures may be provided in various configurations. In some embodiments, the systems may be configured as a distributed system where one or more components of the system are distributed across one or more networks in a cloud computing system and/or a fog computing system. 
       FIG.  1    is a block diagram that provides an illustration of the hardware components of a data transmission network  100 , according to embodiments of the present technology. Data transmission network  100  is a specialized computer system that may be used for processing large amounts of data where a large number of computer processing cycles are required. 
     Data transmission network  100  may also include computing environment  114 . Computing environment  114  may be a specialized computer or other machine that processes the data received within the data transmission network  100 . Data transmission network  100  also includes one or more network devices  102 . Network devices  102  may include client devices that attempt to communicate with computing environment  114 . For example, network devices  102  may send data to the computing environment  114  to be processed, may send signals to the computing environment  114  to control different aspects of the computing environment or the data it is processing, among other reasons. Network devices  102  may interact with the computing environment  114  through a number of ways, such as, for example, over one or more networks  108 . As shown in  FIG.  1   , computing environment  114  may include one or more other systems. For example, computing environment  114  may include a database system  118  and/or a communications grid  120 . 
     In other embodiments, network devices may provide a large amount of data, either all at once or streaming over a period of time (e.g., using event stream processing (ESP), described further with respect to  FIGS.  8 - 10   ), to the computing environment  114  via networks  108 . For example, network devices  102  may include network computers, sensors, databases, or other devices that may transmit or otherwise provide data to computing environment  114 . For example, network devices may include local area network devices, such as routers, hubs, switches, or other computer networking devices. These devices may provide a variety of stored or generated data, such as network data or data specific to the network devices themselves. Network devices may also include sensors that monitor their environment or other devices to collect data regarding that environment or those devices, and such network devices may provide data they collect over time. Network devices may also include devices within the internet of things, such as devices within a home automation network. Some of these devices may be referred to as edge devices, and may involve edge computing circuitry. Data may be transmitted by network devices directly to computing environment  114  or to network-attached data stores, such as network-attached data stores  110  for storage so that the data may be retrieved later by the computing environment  114  or other portions of data transmission network  100 . 
     Data transmission network  100  may also include one or more network-attached data stores  110 . Network-attached data stores  110  are used to store data to be processed by the computing environment  114  as well as any intermediate or final data generated by the computing system in non-volatile memory. However in certain embodiments, the configuration of the computing environment  114  allows its operations to be performed such that intermediate and final data results can be stored solely in volatile memory (e.g., RAM), without a requirement that intermediate or final data results be stored to non-volatile types of memory (e.g., disk). This can be useful in certain situations, such as when the computing environment  114  receives ad hoc queries from a user and when responses, which are generated by processing large amounts of data, need to be generated on-the-fly. In this non-limiting situation, the computing environment  114  may be configured to retain the processed information within memory so that responses can be generated for the user at different levels of detail as well as allow a user to interactively query against this information. 
     Network-attached data stores may store a variety of different types of data organized in a variety of different ways and from a variety of different sources. For example, network-attached data storage may include storage other than primary storage located within computing environment  114  that is directly accessible by processors located therein. Network-attached data storage may include secondary, tertiary or auxiliary storage, such as large hard drives, servers, virtual memory, among other types. Storage devices may include portable or non-portable storage devices, optical storage devices, and various other mediums capable of storing, containing data. A machine-readable storage medium or computer-readable storage medium may include a non-transitory medium in which data can be stored and that does not include carrier waves and/or transitory electronic signals. Examples of a non-transitory medium may include, for example, a magnetic disk or tape, optical storage media such as compact disk or digital versatile disk, flash memory, memory or memory devices. A computer-program product may include code and/or machine-executable instructions that may represent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, among others. Furthermore, the data stores may hold a variety of different types of data. For example, network-attached data stores  110  may hold unstructured (e.g., raw) data, such as manufacturing data (e.g., a database containing records identifying products being manufactured with parameter data for each product, such as colors and models) or product sales databases (e.g., a database containing individual data records identifying details of individual product sales). 
     The unstructured data may be presented to the computing environment  114  in different forms such as a flat file or a conglomerate of data records, and may have data values and accompanying time stamps. The computing environment  114  may be used to analyze the unstructured data in a variety of ways to determine the best way to structure (e.g., hierarchically) that data, such that the structured data is tailored to a type of further analysis that a user wishes to perform on the data. For example, after being processed, the unstructured time stamped data may be aggregated by time (e.g., into daily time period units) to generate time series data and/or structured hierarchically according to one or more dimensions (e.g., parameters, attributes, and/or variables). For example, data may be stored in a hierarchical data structure, such as a ROLAP OR MOLAP database, or may be stored in another tabular form, such as in a flat-hierarchy form. 
     Data transmission network  100  may also include one or more server farms  106 . Computing environment  114  may route select communications or data to the one or more sever farms  106  or one or more servers within the server farms. Server farms  106  can be configured to provide information in a predetermined manner. For example, server farms  106  may access data to transmit in response to a communication. Server farms  106  may be separately housed from each other device within data transmission network  100 , such as computing environment  114 , and/or may be part of a device or system. 
     Server farms  106  may host a variety of different types of data processing as part of data transmission network  100 . Server farms  106  may receive a variety of different data from network devices, from computing environment  114 , from cloud network  116 , or from other sources. The data may have been obtained or collected from one or more sensors, as inputs from a control database, or may have been received as inputs from an external system or device. Server farms  106  may assist in processing the data by turning raw data into processed data based on one or more rules implemented by the server farms. For example, sensor data may be analyzed to determine changes in an environment over time or in real-time. 
     Data transmission network  100  may also include one or more cloud networks  116 . Cloud network  116  may include a cloud infrastructure system that provides cloud services. In certain embodiments, services provided by the cloud network  116  may include a host of services that are made available to users of the cloud infrastructure system on demand. Cloud network  116  is shown in  FIG.  1    as being connected to computing environment  114  (and therefore having computing environment  114  as its client or user), but cloud network  116  may be connected to or utilized by any of the devices in  FIG.  1   . Services provided by the cloud network can dynamically scale to meet the needs of its users. The cloud network  116  may include one or more computers, servers, and/or systems. In some embodiments, the computers, servers, and/or systems that make up the cloud network  116  are different from the user&#39;s own on-premises computers, servers, and/or systems. For example, the cloud network  116  may host an application, and a user may, via a communication network such as the Internet, on demand, order and use the application. 
     While each device, server and system in  FIG.  1    is shown as a single device, it will be appreciated that multiple devices may instead be used. For example, a set of network devices can be used to transmit various communications from a single user, or remote server  140  may include a server stack. As another example, data may be processed as part of computing environment  114 . 
     Each communication within data transmission network  100  (e.g., between client devices, between servers  106  and computing environment  114  or between a server and a device) may occur over one or more networks  108 . Networks  108  may include one or more of a variety of different types of networks, including a wireless network, a wired network, or a combination of a wired and wireless network. Examples of suitable networks include the Internet, a personal area network, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or a wireless local area network (WLAN). A wireless network may include a wireless interface or combination of wireless interfaces. As an example, a network in the one or more networks  108  may include a short-range communication channel, such as a BLUETOOTH® communication channel or a BLUETOOTH® Low Energy communication channel. A wired network may include a wired interface. The wired and/or wireless networks may be implemented using routers, access points, bridges, gateways, or the like, to connect devices in the network  114 , as will be further described with respect to  FIG.  2   . The one or more networks  108  can be incorporated entirely within or can include an intranet, an extranet, or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, communications between two or more systems and/or devices can be achieved by a secure communications protocol, such as secure sockets layer (SSL) or transport layer security (TLS). In addition, data and/or transactional details may be encrypted. 
     Some aspects may utilize the Internet of Things (IoT), where things (e.g., machines, devices, phones, sensors) can be connected to networks and the data from these things can be collected and processed within the things and/or external to the things. For example, the IoT can include sensors in many different devices, and high value analytics can be applied to identify hidden relationships and drive increased efficiencies. This can apply to both big data analytics and real-time (e.g., ESP) analytics. This will be described further below with respect to  FIG.  2   . 
     As noted, computing environment  114  may include a communications grid  120  and a transmission network database system  118 . Communications grid  120  may be a grid-based computing system for processing large amounts of data. The transmission network database system  118  may be for managing, storing, and retrieving large amounts of data that are distributed to and stored in the one or more network-attached data stores  110  or other data stores that reside at different locations within the transmission network database system  118 . The compute nodes in the grid-based computing system  120  and the transmission network database system  118  may share the same processor hardware, such as processors that are located within computing environment  114 . 
       FIG.  2    illustrates an example network including an example set of devices communicating with each other over an exchange system and via a network, according to embodiments of the present technology. As noted, each communication within data transmission network  100  may occur over one or more networks. System  200  includes a network device  204  configured to communicate with a variety of types of client devices, for example client devices  230 , over a variety of types of communication channels. 
     As shown in  FIG.  2   , network device  204  can transmit a communication over a network (e.g., a cellular network via a base station  210 ). The communication can be routed to another network device, such as network devices  205 - 209 , via base station  210 . The communication can also be routed to computing environment  214  via base station  210 . For example, network device  204  may collect data either from its surrounding environment or from other network devices (such as network devices  205 - 209 ) and transmit that data to computing environment  214 . 
     Although network devices  204 - 209  are shown in  FIG.  2    as a mobile phone, laptop computer, tablet computer, temperature sensor, motion sensor, and audio sensor respectively, the network devices may be or include sensors that are sensitive to detecting aspects of their environment. For example, the network devices may include sensors such as water sensors, power sensors, electrical current sensors, chemical sensors, optical sensors, pressure sensors, geographic or position sensors (e.g., GPS), velocity sensors, acceleration sensors, flow rate sensors, among others. Examples of characteristics that may be sensed include force, torque, load, strain, position, temperature, air pressure, fluid flow, chemical properties, resistance, electromagnetic fields, radiation, irradiance, proximity, acoustics, moisture, distance, speed, vibrations, acceleration, electrical potential, and electrical current, among others. The sensors may be mounted to various components used as part of a variety of different types of systems (e.g., an oil drilling operation). The network devices may detect and record data related to the environment that it monitors, and transmit that data to computing environment  214 . 
     As noted, one type of system that may include various sensors that collect data to be processed and/or transmitted to a computing environment according to certain embodiments includes an oil drilling system. For example, the one or more drilling operation sensors may include surface sensors that measure a hook load, a fluid rate, a temperature and a density in and out of the wellbore, a standpipe pressure, a surface torque, a rotation speed of a drill pipe, a rate of penetration, a mechanical specific energy, etc. and downhole sensors that measure a rotation speed of a bit, fluid densities, downhole torque, downhole vibration (axial, tangential, lateral), a weight applied at a drill bit, an annular pressure, a differential pressure, an azimuth, an inclination, a dog leg severity, a measured depth, a vertical depth, a downhole temperature, etc. Besides the raw data collected directly by the sensors, other data may include parameters either developed by the sensors or assigned to the system by a client or other controlling device. For example, one or more drilling operation control parameters may control settings such as a mud motor speed to flow ratio, a bit diameter, a predicted formation top, seismic data, weather data, etc. Other data may be generated using physical models such as an earth model, a weather model, a seismic model, a bottom hole assembly model, a well plan model, an annular friction model, etc. In addition to sensor and control settings, predicted outputs, of for example, the rate of penetration, mechanical specific energy, hook load, flow in fluid rate, flow out fluid rate, pump pressure, surface torque, rotation speed of the drill pipe, annular pressure, annular friction pressure, annular temperature, equivalent circulating density, etc. may also be stored in the data warehouse. 
     In another example, another type of system that may include various sensors that collect data to be processed and/or transmitted to a computing environment according to certain embodiments includes a home automation or similar automated network in a different environment, such as an office space, school, public space, sports venue, or a variety of other locations. Network devices in such an automated network may include network devices that allow a user to access, control, and/or configure various home appliances located within the user&#39;s home (e.g., a television, radio, light, fan, humidifier, sensor, microwave, iron, and/or the like), or outside of the user&#39;s home (e.g., exterior motion sensors, exterior lighting, garage door openers, sprinkler systems, or the like). For example, network device  102  may include a home automation switch that may be coupled with a home appliance. In another embodiment, a network device can allow a user to access, control, and/or configure devices, such as office-related devices (e.g., copy machine, printer, or fax machine), audio and/or video related devices (e.g., a receiver, a speaker, a projector, a DVD player, or a television), media-playback devices (e.g., a compact disc player, a CD player, or the like), computing devices (e.g., a home computer, a laptop computer, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a computing device, or a wearable device), lighting devices (e.g., a lamp or recessed lighting), devices associated with a security system, devices associated with an alarm system, devices that can be operated in an automobile (e.g., radio devices, navigation devices), and/or the like. Data may be collected from such various sensors in raw form, or data may be processed by the sensors to create parameters or other data either developed by the sensors based on the raw data or assigned to the system by a client or other controlling device. 
     In another example, another type of system that may include various sensors that collect data to be processed and/or transmitted to a computing environment according to certain embodiments includes a power or energy grid. A variety of different network devices may be included in an energy grid, such as various devices within one or more power plants, energy farms (e.g., wind farm, solar farm, among others) energy storage facilities, factories, homes and businesses of consumers, among others. One or more of such devices may include one or more sensors that detect energy gain or loss, electrical input or output or loss, and a variety of other efficiencies. These sensors may collect data to inform users of how the energy grid, and individual devices within the grid, may be functioning and how they may be made more efficient. 
     Network device sensors may also perform processing on data it collects before transmitting the data to the computing environment  114 , or before deciding whether to transmit data to the computing environment  114 . For example, network devices may determine whether data collected meets certain rules, for example by comparing data or values calculated from the data and comparing that data to one or more thresholds. The network device may use this data and/or comparisons to determine if the data should be transmitted to the computing environment  214  for further use or processing. 
     Computing environment  214  may include machines  220  and  240 . Although computing environment  214  is shown in  FIG.  2    as having two machines,  220  and  240 , computing environment  214  may have only one machine or may have more than two machines. The machines that make up computing environment  214  may include specialized computers, servers, or other machines that are configured to individually and/or collectively process large amounts of data. The computing environment  214  may also include storage devices that include one or more databases of structured data, such as data organized in one or more hierarchies, or unstructured data. The databases may communicate with the processing devices within computing environment  214  to distribute data to them. Since network devices may transmit data to computing environment  214 , that data may be received by the computing environment  214  and subsequently stored within those storage devices. Data used by computing environment  214  may also be stored in data stores  235 , which may also be a part of or connected to computing environment  214 . 
     Computing environment  214  can communicate with various devices via one or more routers  225  or other inter-network or intra-network connection components. For example, computing environment  214  may communicate with devices  230  via one or more routers  225 . Computing environment  214  may collect, analyze and/or store data from or pertaining to communications, client device operations, client rules, and/or user-associated actions stored at one or more data stores  235 . Such data may influence communication routing to the devices within computing environment  214 , how data is stored or processed within computing environment  214 , among other actions. 
     Notably, various other devices can further be used to influence communication routing and/or processing between devices within computing environment  214  and with devices outside of computing environment  214 . For example, as shown in  FIG.  2   , computing environment  214  may include a web server  240 . Thus, computing environment  214  can retrieve data of interest, such as client information (e.g., product information, client rules, etc.), technical product details, news, current or predicted weather, and so on. 
     In addition to computing environment  214  collecting data (e.g., as received from network devices, such as sensors, and client devices or other sources) to be processed as part of a big data analytics project, it may also receive data in real time as part of a streaming analytics environment. As noted, data may be collected using a variety of sources as communicated via different kinds of networks or locally. Such data may be received on a real-time streaming basis. For example, network devices may receive data periodically from network device sensors as the sensors continuously sense, monitor and track changes in their environments. Devices within computing environment  214  may also perform pre-analysis on data it receives to determine if the data received should be processed as part of an ongoing project. The data received and collected by computing environment  214 , no matter what the source or method or timing of receipt, may be processed over a period of time for a client to determine results data based on the client&#39;s needs and rules. 
       FIG.  3    illustrates a representation of a conceptual model of a communications protocol system, according to embodiments of the present technology. More specifically,  FIG.  3    identifies operation of a computing environment in an Open Systems Interaction model that corresponds to various connection components. The model  300  shows, for example, how a computing environment, such as computing environment  314  (or computing environment  214  in  FIG.  2   ) may communicate with other devices in its network, and control how communications between the computing environment and other devices are executed and under what conditions. 
     The model can include layers  301 - 307 . The layers are arranged in a stack. Each layer in the stack serves the layer one level higher than it (except for the application layer, which is the highest layer), and is served by the layer one level below it (except for the physical layer, which is the lowest layer). The physical layer is the lowest layer because it receives and transmits raw bites of data, and is the farthest layer from the user in a communications system. On the other hand, the application layer is the highest layer because it interacts directly with a software application. 
     As noted, the model includes a physical layer  301 . Physical layer  301  represents physical communication, and can define parameters of that physical communication. For example, such physical communication may come in the form of electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signals. Physical layer  301  also defines protocols that may control communications within a data transmission network. 
     Link layer  302  defines links and mechanisms used to transmit (i.e., move) data across a network. The link layer  302  manages node-to-node communications, such as within a grid computing environment. Link layer  302  can detect and correct errors (e.g., transmission errors in the physical layer  301 ). Link layer  302  can also include a media access control (MAC) layer and logical link control (LLC) layer. 
     Network layer  303  defines the protocol for routing within a network. In other words, the network layer coordinates transferring data across nodes in a same network (e.g., such as a grid computing environment). Network layer  303  can also define the processes used to structure local addressing within the network. 
     Transport layer  304  can manage the transmission of data and the quality of the transmission and/or receipt of that data. Transport layer  304  can provide a protocol for transferring data, such as, for example, a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). Transport layer  304  can assemble and disassemble data frames for transmission. The transport layer can also detect transmission errors occurring in the layers below it. 
     Session layer  305  can establish, maintain, and manage communication connections between devices on a network. In other words, the session layer controls the dialogues or nature of communications between network devices on the network. The session layer may also establish checkpointing, adjournment, termination, and restart procedures. 
     Presentation layer  306  can provide translation for communications between the application and network layers. In other words, this layer may encrypt, decrypt and/or format data based on data types and/or encodings known to be accepted by an application or network layer. 
     Application layer  307  interacts directly with software applications and end users, and manages communications between them. Application layer  307  can identify destinations, local resource states or availability and/or communication content or formatting using the applications. 
     Intra-network connection components  321  and  322  are shown to operate in lower levels, such as physical layer  301  and link layer  302 , respectively. For example, a hub can operate in the physical layer, a switch can operate in the link layer, and a router can operate in the network layer. Inter-network connection components  323  and  328  are shown to operate on higher levels, such as layers  303 - 307 . For example, routers can operate in the network layer and network devices can operate in the transport, session, presentation, and application layers. 
     As noted, a computing environment  314  can interact with and/or operate on, in various embodiments, one, more, all or any of the various layers. For example, computing environment  314  can interact with a hub (e.g., via the link layer) so as to adjust which devices the hub communicates with. The physical layer may be served by the link layer, so it may implement such data from the link layer. For example, the computing environment  314  may control which devices it will receive data from. For example, if the computing environment  314  knows that a certain network device has turned off, broken, or otherwise become unavailable or unreliable, the computing environment  314  may instruct the hub to prevent any data from being transmitted to the computing environment  314  from that network device. Such a process may be beneficial to avoid receiving data that is inaccurate or that has been influenced by an uncontrolled environment. As another example, computing environment  314  can communicate with a bridge, switch, router or gateway and influence which device within the system (e.g., system  200 ) the component selects as a destination. In some embodiments, computing environment  314  can interact with various layers by exchanging communications with equipment operating on a particular layer by routing or modifying existing communications. In another embodiment, such as in a grid computing environment, a node may determine how data within the environment should be routed (e.g., which node should receive certain data) based on certain parameters or information provided by other layers within the model. 
     As noted, the computing environment  314  may be a part of a communications grid environment, the communications of which may be implemented as shown in the protocol of  FIG.  3   . For example, referring back to  FIG.  2   , one or more of machines  220  and  240  may be part of a communications grid computing environment. A gridded computing environment may be employed in a distributed system with non-interactive workloads where data resides in memory on the machines, or compute nodes. In such an environment, analytic code, instead of a database management system, controls the processing performed by the nodes. Data is co-located by pre-distributing it to the grid nodes, and the analytic code on each node loads the local data into memory. Each node may be assigned a particular task such as a portion of a processing project, or to organize or control other nodes within the grid. 
       FIG.  4    illustrates a communications grid computing system  400  including a variety of control and worker nodes, according to embodiments of the present technology. Communications grid computing system  400  includes three control nodes and one or more worker nodes. Communications grid computing system  400  includes control nodes  402 ,  404 , and  406 . The control nodes are communicatively connected via communication paths  451 ,  453 , and  455 . Therefore, the control nodes may transmit information (e.g., related to the communications grid or notifications), to and receive information from each other. Although communications grid computing system  400  is shown in  FIG.  4    as including three control nodes, the communications grid may include more or less than three control nodes. 
     Communications grid computing system (or just “communications grid”)  400  also includes one or more worker nodes. Shown in  FIG.  4    are six worker nodes  410 - 420 . Although  FIG.  4    shows six worker nodes, a communications grid according to embodiments of the present technology may include more or less than six worker nodes. The number of worker nodes included in a communications grid may be dependent upon how large the project or data set is being processed by the communications grid, the capacity of each worker node, the time designated for the communications grid to complete the project, among others. Each worker node within the communications grid  400  may be connected (wired or wirelessly, and directly or indirectly) to control nodes  402 - 406 . Therefore, each worker node may receive information from the control nodes (e.g., an instruction to perform work on a project) and may transmit information to the control nodes (e.g., a result from work performed on a project). Furthermore, worker nodes may communicate with each other (either directly or indirectly). For example, worker nodes may transmit data between each other related to a job being performed or an individual task within a job being performed by that worker node. However, in certain embodiments, worker nodes may not, for example, be connected (communicatively or otherwise) to certain other worker nodes. In an embodiment, worker nodes may only be able to communicate with the control node that controls it, and may not be able to communicate with other worker nodes in the communications grid, whether they are other worker nodes controlled by the control node that controls the worker node, or worker nodes that are controlled by other control nodes in the communications grid. 
     A control node may connect with an external device with which the control node may communicate (e.g., a grid user, such as a server or computer, may connect to a controller of the grid). For example, a server or computer may connect to control nodes and may transmit a project or job to the node. The project may include a data set. The data set may be of any size. Once the control node receives such a project including a large data set, the control node may distribute the data set or projects related to the data set to be performed by worker nodes. Alternatively, for a project including a large data set, the data set may be received or stored by a machine other than a control node (e.g., a HADOOP® standard-compliant data node employing the HADOOP® Distributed File System, or HDFS). 
     Control nodes may maintain knowledge of the status of the nodes in the grid (i.e., grid status information), accept work requests from clients, subdivide the work across worker nodes, and coordinate the worker nodes, among other responsibilities. Worker nodes may accept work requests from a control node and provide the control node with results of the work performed by the worker node. A grid may be started from a single node (e.g., a machine, computer, server, etc.). This first node may be assigned or may start as the primary control node that will control any additional nodes that enter the grid. 
     When a project is submitted for execution (e.g., by a client or a controller of the grid) it may be assigned to a set of nodes. After the nodes are assigned to a project, a data structure (i.e., a communicator) may be created. The communicator may be used by the project for information to be shared between the project codes running on each node. A communication handle may be created on each node. A handle, for example, is a reference to the communicator that is valid within a single process on a single node, and the handle may be used when requesting communications between nodes. 
     A control node, such as control node  402 , may be designated as the primary control node. A server, computer or other external device may connect to the primary control node. Once the control node receives a project, the primary control node may distribute portions of the project to its worker nodes for execution. For example, when a project is initiated on communications grid  400 , primary control node  402  controls the work to be performed for the project in order to complete the project as requested or instructed. The primary control node may distribute work to the worker nodes based on various factors, such as which subsets or portions of projects may be completed most efficiently and in the correct amount of time. For example, a worker node may perform analysis on a portion of data that is already local (e.g., stored on) the worker node. The primary control node also coordinates and processes the results of the work performed by each worker node after each worker node executes and completes its job. For example, the primary control node may receive a result from one or more worker nodes, and the control node may organize (e.g., collect and assemble) the results received and compile them to produce a complete result for the project received from the end user. 
     Any remaining control nodes, such as control nodes  404  and  406 , may be assigned as backup control nodes for the project. In an embodiment, backup control nodes may not control any portion of the project. Instead, backup control nodes may serve as a backup for the primary control node and take over as primary control node if the primary control node were to fail. If a communications grid were to include only a single control node, and the control node were to fail (e.g., the control node is shut off or breaks) then the communications grid as a whole may fail and any project or job being run on the communications grid may fail and may not complete. While the project may be run again, such a failure may cause a delay (severe delay in some cases, such as overnight delay) in completion of the project. Therefore, a grid with multiple control nodes, including a backup control node, may be beneficial. 
     To add another node or machine to the grid, the primary control node may open a pair of listening sockets, for example. A socket may be used to accept work requests from clients, and the second socket may be used to accept connections from other grid nodes. The primary control node may be provided with a list of other nodes (e.g., other machines, computers, servers) that will participate in the grid, and the role that each node will fill in the grid. Upon startup of the primary control node (e.g., the first node on the grid), the primary control node may use a network protocol to start the server process on every other node in the grid. Command line parameters, for example, may inform each node of one or more pieces of information, such as: the role that the node will have in the grid, the host name of the primary control node, the port number on which the primary control node is accepting connections from peer nodes, among others. The information may also be provided in a configuration file, transmitted over a secure shell tunnel, recovered from a configuration server, among others. While the other machines in the grid may not initially know about the configuration of the grid, that information may also be sent to each other node by the primary control node. Updates of the grid information may also be subsequently sent to those nodes. 
     For any control node other than the primary control node added to the grid, the control node may open three sockets. The first socket may accept work requests from clients, the second socket may accept connections from other grid members, and the third socket may connect (e.g., permanently) to the primary control node. When a control node (e.g., primary control node) receives a connection from another control node, it first checks to see if the peer node is in the list of configured nodes in the grid. If it is not on the list, the control node may clear the connection. If it is on the list, it may then attempt to authenticate the connection. If authentication is successful, the authenticating node may transmit information to its peer, such as the port number on which a node is listening for connections, the host name of the node, information about how to authenticate the node, among other information. When a node, such as the new control node, receives information about another active node, it will check to see if it already has a connection to that other node. If it does not have a connection to that node, it may then establish a connection to that control node. 
     Any worker node added to the grid may establish a connection to the primary control node and any other control nodes on the grid. After establishing the connection, it may authenticate itself to the grid (e.g., any control nodes, including both primary and backup, or a server or user controlling the grid). After successful authentication, the worker node may accept configuration information from the control node. 
     When a node joins a communications grid (e.g., when the node is powered on or connected to an existing node on the grid or both), the node is assigned (e.g., by an operating system of the grid) a universally unique identifier (UUID). This unique identifier may help other nodes and external entities (devices, users, etc.) to identify the node and distinguish it from other nodes. When a node is connected to the grid, the node may share its unique identifier with the other nodes in the grid. Since each node may share its unique identifier, each node may know the unique identifier of every other node on the grid. Unique identifiers may also designate a hierarchy of each of the nodes (e.g., backup control nodes) within the grid. For example, the unique identifiers of each of the backup control nodes may be stored in a list of backup control nodes to indicate an order in which the backup control nodes will take over for a failed primary control node to become a new primary control node. However, a hierarchy of nodes may also be determined using methods other than using the unique identifiers of the nodes. For example, the hierarchy may be predetermined, or may be assigned based on other predetermined factors. 
     The grid may add new machines at any time (e.g., initiated from any control node). Upon adding a new node to the grid, the control node may first add the new node to its table of grid nodes. The control node may also then notify every other control node about the new node. The nodes receiving the notification may acknowledge that they have updated their configuration information. 
     Primary control node  402  may, for example, transmit one or more communications to backup control nodes  404  and  406  (and, for example, to other control or worker nodes within the communications grid). Such communications may be sent periodically, at fixed time intervals, between known fixed stages of the project&#39;s execution, among other protocols. The communications transmitted by primary control node  402  may be of varied types and may include a variety of types of information. For example, primary control node  402  may transmit snapshots (e.g., status information) of the communications grid so that backup control node  404  always has a recent snapshot of the communications grid. The snapshot or grid status may include, for example, the structure of the grid (including, for example, the worker nodes in the grid, unique identifiers of the nodes, or their relationships with the primary control node) and the status of a project (including, for example, the status of each worker node&#39;s portion of the project). The snapshot may also include analysis or results received from worker nodes in the communications grid. The backup control nodes may receive and store the backup data received from the primary control node. The backup control nodes may transmit a request for such a snapshot (or other information) from the primary control node, or the primary control node may send such information periodically to the backup control nodes. 
     As noted, the backup data may allow the backup control node to take over as primary control node if the primary control node fails without requiring the grid to start the project over from scratch. If the primary control node fails, the backup control node that will take over as primary control node may retrieve the most recent version of the snapshot received from the primary control node and use the snapshot to continue the project from the stage of the project indicated by the backup data. This may prevent failure of the project as a whole. 
     A backup control node may use various methods to determine that the primary control node has failed. In one example of such a method, the primary control node may transmit (e.g., periodically) a communication to the backup control node that indicates that the primary control node is working and has not failed, such as a heartbeat communication. The backup control node may determine that the primary control node has failed if the backup control node has not received a heartbeat communication for a certain predetermined period of time. Alternatively, a backup control node may also receive a communication from the primary control node itself (before it failed) or from a worker node that the primary control node has failed, for example because the primary control node has failed to communicate with the worker node. 
     Different methods may be performed to determine which backup control node of a set of backup control nodes (e.g., backup control nodes  404  and  406 ) will take over for failed primary control node  402  and become the new primary control node. For example, the new primary control node may be chosen based on a ranking or “hierarchy” of backup control nodes based on their unique identifiers. In an alternative embodiment, a backup control node may be assigned to be the new primary control node by another device in the communications grid or from an external device (e.g., a system infrastructure or an end user, such as a server or computer, controlling the communications grid). In another alternative embodiment, the backup control node that takes over as the new primary control node may be designated based on bandwidth or other statistics about the communications grid. 
     A worker node within the communications grid may also fail. If a worker node fails, work being performed by the failed worker node may be redistributed amongst the operational worker nodes. In an alternative embodiment, the primary control node may transmit a communication to each of the operable worker nodes still on the communications grid that each of the worker nodes should purposefully fail also. After each of the worker nodes fail, they may each retrieve their most recent saved checkpoint of their status and re-start the project from that checkpoint to minimize lost progress on the project being executed. 
       FIG.  5    illustrates a flow chart showing an example process  500  for adjusting a communications grid or a work project in a communications grid after a failure of a node, according to embodiments of the present technology. The process may include, for example, receiving grid status information including a project status of a portion of a project being executed by a node in the communications grid, as described in operation  502 . For example, a control node (e.g., a backup control node connected to a primary control node and a worker node on a communications grid) may receive grid status information, where the grid status information includes a project status of the primary control node or a project status of the worker node. The project status of the primary control node and the project status of the worker node may include a status of one or more portions of a project being executed by the primary and worker nodes in the communications grid. The process may also include storing the grid status information, as described in operation  504 . For example, a control node (e.g., a backup control node) may store the received grid status information locally within the control node. Alternatively, the grid status information may be sent to another device for storage where the control node may have access to the information. 
     The process may also include receiving a failure communication corresponding to a node in the communications grid in operation  506 . For example, a node may receive a failure communication including an indication that the primary control node has failed, prompting a backup control node to take over for the primary control node. In an alternative embodiment, a node may receive a failure that a worker node has failed, prompting a control node to reassign the work being performed by the worker node. The process may also include reassigning a node or a portion of the project being executed by the failed node, as described in operation  508 . For example, a control node may designate the backup control node as a new primary control node based on the failure communication upon receiving the failure communication. If the failed node is a worker node, a control node may identify a project status of the failed worker node using the snapshot of the communications grid, where the project status of the failed worker node includes a status of a portion of the project being executed by the failed worker node at the failure time. 
     The process may also include receiving updated grid status information based on the reassignment, as described in operation  510 , and transmitting a set of instructions based on the updated grid status information to one or more nodes in the communications grid, as described in operation  512 . The updated grid status information may include an updated project status of the primary control node or an updated project status of the worker node. The updated information may be transmitted to the other nodes in the grid to update their stale stored information. 
       FIG.  6    illustrates a portion of a communications grid computing system  600  including a control node and a worker node, according to embodiments of the present technology. Communications grid  600  computing system includes one control node (control node  602 ) and one worker node (worker node  610 ) for purposes of illustration, but may include more worker and/or control nodes. The control node  602  is communicatively connected to worker node  610  via communication path  650 . Therefore, control node  602  may transmit information (e.g., related to the communications grid or notifications), to and receive information from worker node  610  via path  650 . 
     Similar to in  FIG.  4   , communications grid computing system (or just “communications grid”)  600  includes data processing nodes (control node  602  and worker node  610 ). Nodes  602  and  610  include multi-core data processors. Each node  602  and  610  includes a grid-enabled software component (GESC)  620  that executes on the data processor associated with that node and interfaces with buffer memory  622  also associated with that node. Each node  602  and  610  includes database management software (DBMS)  628  that executes on a database server (not shown) at control node  602  and on a database server (not shown) at worker node  610 . 
     Each node also includes a data store  624 . Data stores  624 , similar to network-attached data stores  110  in  FIG.  1    and data stores  235  in  FIG.  2   , are used to store data to be processed by the nodes in the computing environment. Data stores  624  may also store any intermediate or final data generated by the computing system after being processed, for example in non-volatile memory. However in certain embodiments, the configuration of the grid computing environment allows its operations to be performed such that intermediate and final data results can be stored solely in volatile memory (e.g., RAM), without a requirement that intermediate or final data results be stored to non-volatile types of memory. Storing such data in volatile memory may be useful in certain situations, such as when the grid receives queries (e.g., ad hoc) from a client and when responses, which are generated by processing large amounts of data, need to be generated quickly or on-the-fly. In such a situation, the grid may be configured to retain the data within memory so that responses can be generated at different levels of detail and so that a client may interactively query against this information. 
     Each node also includes a user-defined function (UDF)  626 . The UDF provides a mechanism for the DBMS  628  to transfer data to or receive data from the database stored in the data stores  624  that are managed by the DBMS. For example, UDF  626  can be invoked by the DBMS to provide data to the GESC for processing. The UDF  626  may establish a socket connection (not shown) with the GESC to transfer the data. Alternatively, the UDF  626  can transfer data to the GESC by writing data to shared memory accessible by both the UDF and the GESC. 
     The GESC  620  at the nodes  602  and  620  may be connected via a network, such as network  108  shown in  FIG.  1   . Therefore, nodes  602  and  620  can communicate with each other via the network using a predetermined communication protocol such as, for example, the Message Passing Interface (MPI). Each GESC  620  can engage in point-to-point communication with the GESC at another node or in collective communication with multiple GESCs via the network. The GESC  620  at each node may contain identical (or nearly identical) software instructions. Each node may be capable of operating as either a control node or a worker node. The GESC at the control node  602  can communicate, over a communication path  652 , with a client deice  630 . More specifically, control node  602  may communicate with client application  632  hosted by the client device  630  to receive queries and to respond to those queries after processing large amounts of data. 
     DBMS  628  may control the creation, maintenance, and use of database or data structure (not shown) within a nodes  602  or  610 . The database may organize data stored in data stores  624 . The DBMS  628  at control node  602  may accept requests for data and transfer the appropriate data for the request. With such a process, collections of data may be distributed across multiple physical locations. In this example, each node  602  and  610  stores a portion of the total data managed by the management system in its associated data store  624 . 
     Furthermore, the DBMS may be responsible for protecting against data loss using replication techniques. Replication includes providing a backup copy of data stored on one node on one or more other nodes. Therefore, if one node fails, the data from the failed node can be recovered from a replicated copy residing at another node. However, as described herein with respect to  FIG.  4   , data or status information for each node in the communications grid may also be shared with each node on the grid. 
       FIG.  7    illustrates a flow chart showing an example method  700  for executing a project within a grid computing system, according to embodiments of the present technology. As described with respect to  FIG.  6   , the GESC at the control node may transmit data with a client device (e.g., client device  630 ) to receive queries for executing a project and to respond to those queries after large amounts of data have been processed. The query may be transmitted to the control node, where the query may include a request for executing a project, as described in operation  702 . The query can contain instructions on the type of data analysis to be performed in the project and whether the project should be executed using the grid-based computing environment, as shown in operation  704 . 
     To initiate the project, the control node may determine if the query requests use of the grid-based computing environment to execute the project. If the determination is no, then the control node initiates execution of the project in a solo environment (e.g., at the control node), as described in operation  710 . If the determination is yes, the control node may initiate execution of the project in the grid-based computing environment, as described in operation  706 . In such a situation, the request may include a requested configuration of the grid. For example, the request may include a number of control nodes and a number of worker nodes to be used in the grid when executing the project. After the project has been completed, the control node may transmit results of the analysis yielded by the grid, as described in operation  708 . Whether the project is executed in a solo or grid-based environment, the control node provides the results of the project, as described in operation  712 . 
     As noted with respect to  FIG.  2   , the computing environments described herein may collect data (e.g., as received from network devices, such as sensors, such as network devices  204 - 209  in  FIG.  2   , and client devices or other sources) to be processed as part of a data analytics project, and data may be received in real time as part of a streaming analytics environment (e.g., ESP). Data may be collected using a variety of sources as communicated via different kinds of networks or locally, such as on a real-time streaming basis. For example, network devices may receive data periodically from network device sensors as the sensors continuously sense, monitor and track changes in their environments. More specifically, an increasing number of distributed applications develop or produce continuously flowing data from distributed sources by applying queries to the data before distributing the data to geographically distributed recipients. An event stream processing engine (ESPE) may continuously apply the queries to the data as it is received and determines which entities should receive the data. Client or other devices may also subscribe to the ESPE or other devices processing ESP data so that they can receive data after processing, based on for example the entities determined by the processing engine. For example, client devices  230  in  FIG.  2    may subscribe to the ESPE in computing environment  214 . In another example, event subscription devices  1024   a - c , described further with respect to  FIG.  10   , may also subscribe to the ESPE. The ESPE may determine or define how input data or event streams from network devices or other publishers (e.g., network devices  204 - 209  in  FIG.  2   ) are transformed into meaningful output data to be consumed by subscribers, such as for example client devices  230  in  FIG.  2   . 
       FIG.  8    illustrates a block diagram including components of an Event Stream Processing Engine (ESPE), according to embodiments of the present technology. ESPE  800  may include one or more projects  802 . A project may be described as a second-level container in an engine model managed by ESPE  800  where a thread pool size for the project may be defined by a user. Each project of the one or more projects  802  may include one or more continuous queries  804  that contain data flows, which are data transformations of incoming event streams. The one or more continuous queries  804  may include one or more source windows  806  and one or more derived windows  808 . 
     The ESPE may receive streaming data over a period of time related to certain events, such as events or other data sensed by one or more network devices. The ESPE may perform operations associated with processing data created by the one or more devices. For example, the ESPE may receive data from the one or more network devices  204 - 209  shown in  FIG.  2   . As noted, the network devices may include sensors that sense different aspects of their environments, and may collect data over time based on those sensed observations. For example, the ESPE may be implemented within one or more of machines  220  and  240  shown in  FIG.  2   . The ESPE may be implemented within such a machine by an ESP application. An ESP application may embed an ESPE with its own dedicated thread pool or pools into its application space where the main application thread can do application-specific work and the ESPE processes event streams at least by creating an instance of a model into processing objects. 
     The engine container is the top-level container in a model that manages the resources of the one or more projects  802 . In an illustrative embodiment, for example, there may be only one ESPE  800  for each instance of the ESP application, and ESPE  800  may have a unique engine name. Additionally, the one or more projects  802  may each have unique project names, and each query may have a unique continuous query name and begin with a uniquely named source window of the one or more source windows  806 . ESPE  800  may or may not be persistent. 
     Continuous query modeling involves defining directed graphs of windows for event stream manipulation and transformation. A window in the context of event stream manipulation and transformation is a processing node in an event stream processing model. A window in a continuous query can perform aggregations, computations, pattern-matching, and other operations on data flowing through the window. A continuous query may be described as a directed graph of source, relational, pattern matching, and procedural windows. The one or more source windows  806  and the one or more derived windows  808  represent continuously executing queries that generate updates to a query result set as new event blocks stream through ESPE  800 . A directed graph, for example, is a set of nodes connected by edges, where the edges have a direction associated with them. 
     An event object may be described as a packet of data accessible as a collection of fields, with at least one of the fields defined as a key or unique identifier (ID). The event object may be created using a variety of formats including binary, alphanumeric, XML, etc. Each event object may include one or more fields designated as a primary identifier (ID) for the event so ESPE  800  can support operation codes (opcodes) for events including insert, update, upsert, and delete. Upsert opcodes update the event if the key field already exists; otherwise, the event is inserted. For illustration, an event object may be a packed binary representation of a set of field values and include both metadata and field data associated with an event. The metadata may include an opcode indicating if the event represents an insert, update, delete, or upsert, a set of flags indicating if the event is a normal, partial-update, or a retention generated event from retention policy management, and a set of microsecond timestamps that can be used for latency measurements. 
     An event block object may be described as a grouping or package of event objects. An event stream may be described as a flow of event block objects. A continuous query of the one or more continuous queries  804  transforms a source event stream made up of streaming event block objects published into ESPE  800  into one or more output event streams using the one or more source windows  806  and the one or more derived windows  808 . A continuous query can also be thought of as data flow modeling. 
     The one or more source windows  806  are at the top of the directed graph and have no windows feeding into them. Event streams are published into the one or more source windows  806 , and from there, the event streams may be directed to the next set of connected windows as defined by the directed graph. The one or more derived windows  808  are all instantiated windows that are not source windows and that have other windows streaming events into them. The one or more derived windows  808  may perform computations or transformations on the incoming event streams. The one or more derived windows  808  transform event streams based on the window type (that is operators such as join, filter, compute, aggregate, copy, pattern match, procedural, union, etc.) and window settings. As event streams are published into ESPE  800 , they are continuously queried, and the resulting sets of derived windows in these queries are continuously updated. 
       FIG.  9    illustrates a flow chart showing an example process including operations performed by an event stream processing engine, according to some embodiments of the present technology. As noted, the ESPE  800  (or an associated ESP application) defines how input event streams are transformed into meaningful output event streams. More specifically, the ESP application may define how input event streams from publishers (e.g., network devices providing sensed data) are transformed into meaningful output event streams consumed by subscribers (e.g., a data analytics project being executed by a machine or set of machines). 
     Within the application, a user may interact with one or more user interface windows presented to the user in a display under control of the ESPE independently or through a browser application in an order selectable by the user. For example, a user may execute an ESP application, which causes presentation of a first user interface window, which may include a plurality of menus and selectors such as drop down menus, buttons, text boxes, hyperlinks, etc. associated with the ESP application as understood by a person of skill in the art. As further understood by a person of skill in the art, various operations may be performed in parallel, for example, using a plurality of threads. 
     At operation  900 , an ESP application may define and start an ESPE, thereby instantiating an ESPE at a device, such as machine  220  and/or  240 . In an operation  902 , the engine container is created. For illustration, ESPE  800  may be instantiated using a function call that specifies the engine container as a manager for the model. 
     In an operation  904 , the one or more continuous queries  804  are instantiated by ESPE  800  as a model. The one or more continuous queries  804  may be instantiated with a dedicated thread pool or pools that generate updates as new events stream through ESPE  800 . For illustration, the one or more continuous queries  804  may be created to model business processing logic within ESPE  800 , to predict events within ESPE  800 , to model a physical system within ESPE  800 , to predict the physical system state within ESPE  800 , etc. For example, as noted, ESPE  800  may be used to support sensor data monitoring and management (e.g., sensing may include force, torque, load, strain, position, temperature, air pressure, fluid flow, chemical properties, resistance, electromagnetic fields, radiation, irradiance, proximity, acoustics, moisture, distance, speed, vibrations, acceleration, electrical potential, or electrical current, etc.). 
     ESPE  800  may analyze and process events in motion or “event streams.” Instead of storing data and running queries against the stored data, ESPE  800  may store queries and stream data through them to allow continuous analysis of data as it is received. The one or more source windows  806  and the one or more derived windows  808  may be created based on the relational, pattern matching, and procedural algorithms that transform the input event streams into the output event streams to model, simulate, score, test, predict, etc. based on the continuous query model defined and application to the streamed data. 
     In an operation  906 , a publish/subscribe (pub/sub) capability is initialized for ESPE  800 . In an illustrative embodiment, a pub/sub capability is initialized for each project of the one or more projects  802 . To initialize and enable pub/sub capability for ESPE  800 , a port number may be provided. Pub/sub clients can use a host name of an ESP device running the ESPE and the port number to establish pub/sub connections to ESPE  800 . 
       FIG.  10    illustrates an ESP system  1000  interfacing between publishing device  1022  and event subscribing devices  1024   a - c , according to embodiments of the present technology. ESP system  1000  may include ESP device or subsystem  851 , event publishing device  1022 , an event subscribing device A  1024   a , an event subscribing device B  1024   b , and an event subscribing device C  1024   c . Input event streams are output to ESP device  851  by publishing device  1022 . In alternative embodiments, the input event streams may be created by a plurality of publishing devices. The plurality of publishing devices further may publish event streams to other ESP devices. The one or more continuous queries instantiated by ESPE  800  may analyze and process the input event streams to form output event streams output to event subscribing device A  1024   a , event subscribing device B  1024   b , and event subscribing device C  1024   c . ESP system  1000  may include a greater or a fewer number of event subscribing devices of event subscribing devices. 
     Publish-subscribe is a message-oriented interaction paradigm based on indirect addressing. Processed data recipients specify their interest in receiving information from ESPE  800  by subscribing to specific classes of events, while information sources publish events to ESPE  800  without directly addressing the receiving parties. ESPE  800  coordinates the interactions and processes the data. In some cases, the data source receives confirmation that the published information has been received by a data recipient. 
     A publish/subscribe API may be described as a library that enables an event publisher, such as publishing device  1022 , to publish event streams into ESPE  800  or an event subscriber, such as event subscribing device A  1024   a , event subscribing device B  1024   b , and event subscribing device C  1024   c , to subscribe to event streams from ESPE  800 . For illustration, one or more publish/subscribe APIs may be defined. Using the publish/subscribe API, an event publishing application may publish event streams into a running event stream processor project source window of ESPE  800 , and the event subscription application may subscribe to an event stream processor project source window of ESPE  800 . 
     The publish/subscribe API provides cross-platform connectivity and endianness compatibility between ESP application and other networked applications, such as event publishing applications instantiated at publishing device  1022 , and event subscription applications instantiated at one or more of event subscribing device A  1024   a , event subscribing device B  1024   b , and event subscribing device C  1024   c.    
     Referring back to  FIG.  9   , operation  906  initializes the publish/subscribe capability of ESPE  800 . In an operation  908 , the one or more projects  802  are started. The one or more started projects may run in the background on an ESP device. In an operation  910 , an event block object is received from one or more computing device of the event publishing device  1022 . 
     ESP subsystem  800  may include a publishing client  1002 , ESPE  800 , a subscribing client A  1004 , a subscribing client B  1006 , and a subscribing client C  1008 . Publishing client  1002  may be started by an event publishing application executing at publishing device  1022  using the publish/subscribe API. Subscribing client A  1004  may be started by an event subscription application A, executing at event subscribing device A  1024   a  using the publish/subscribe API. Subscribing client B  1006  may be started by an event subscription application B executing at event subscribing device B  1024   b  using the publish/subscribe API. Subscribing client C  1008  may be started by an event subscription application C executing at event subscribing device C  1024   c  using the publish/subscribe API. 
     An event block object containing one or more event objects is injected into a source window of the one or more source windows  806  from an instance of an event publishing application on event publishing device  1022 . The event block object may be generated, for example, by the event publishing application and may be received by publishing client  1002 . A unique ID may be maintained as the event block object is passed between the one or more source windows  806  and/or the one or more derived windows  808  of ESPE  800 , and to subscribing client A  1004 , subscribing client B  1006 , and subscribing client C  1008  and to event subscription device A  1024   a , event subscription device B  1024   b , and event subscription device C  1024   c . Publishing client  1002  may further generate and include a unique embedded transaction ID in the event block object as the event block object is processed by a continuous query, as well as the unique ID that publishing device  1022  assigned to the event block object. 
     In an operation  912 , the event block object is processed through the one or more continuous queries  804 . In an operation  914 , the processed event block object is output to one or more computing devices of the event subscribing devices  1024   a - c . For example, subscribing client A  1004 , subscribing client B  1006 , and subscribing client C  1008  may send the received event block object to event subscription device A  1024   a , event subscription device B  1024   b , and event subscription device C  1024   c , respectively. 
     ESPE  800  maintains the event block containership aspect of the received event blocks from when the event block is published into a source window and works its way through the directed graph defined by the one or more continuous queries  804  with the various event translations before being output to subscribers. Subscribers can correlate a group of subscribed events back to a group of published events by comparing the unique ID of the event block object that a publisher, such as publishing device  1022 , attached to the event block object with the event block ID received by the subscriber. 
     In an operation  916 , a determination is made concerning whether or not processing is stopped. If processing is not stopped, processing continues in operation  910  to continue receiving the one or more event streams containing event block objects from the, for example, one or more network devices. If processing is stopped, processing continues in an operation  918 . In operation  918 , the started projects are stopped. In operation  920 , the ESPE is shutdown. 
     As noted, in some embodiments, big data is processed for an analytics project after the data is received and stored. In other embodiments, distributed applications process continuously flowing data in real-time from distributed sources by applying queries to the data before distributing the data to geographically distributed recipients. As noted, an event stream processing engine (ESPE) may continuously apply the queries to the data as it is received and determines which entities receive the processed data. This allows for large amounts of data being received and/or collected in a variety of environments to be processed and distributed in real time. For example, as shown with respect to  FIG.  2   , data may be collected from network devices that may include devices within the internet of things, such as devices within a home automation network. However, such data may be collected from a variety of different resources in a variety of different environments. In any such situation, embodiments of the present technology allow for real-time processing of such data. 
     Aspects of the current disclosure provide technical solutions to technical problems, such as computing problems that arise when an ESP device fails which results in a complete service interruption and potentially significant data loss. The data loss can be catastrophic when the streamed data is supporting mission critical operations such as those in support of an ongoing manufacturing or drilling operation. An embodiment of an ESP system achieves a rapid and seamless failover of ESPE running at the plurality of ESP devices without service interruption or data loss, thus significantly improving the reliability of an operational system that relies on the live or real-time processing of the data streams. The event publishing systems, the event subscribing systems, and each ESPE not executing at a failed ESP device are not aware of or effected by the failed ESP device. The ESP system may include thousands of event publishing systems and event subscribing systems. The ESP system keeps the failover logic and awareness within the boundaries of out-messaging network connector and out-messaging network device. 
     In one example embodiment, a system is provided to support a failover when event stream processing (ESP) event blocks. The system includes, but is not limited to, an out-messaging network device and a computing device. The computing device includes, but is not limited to, a processor and a computer-readable medium operably coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to execute an ESP engine (ESPE). The computer-readable medium has instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to support the failover. An event block object is received from the ESPE that includes a unique identifier. A first status of the computing device as active or standby is determined. When the first status is active, a second status of the computing device as newly active or not newly active is determined. Newly active is determined when the computing device is switched from a standby status to an active status. When the second status is newly active, a last published event block object identifier that uniquely identifies a last published event block object is determined. A next event block object is selected from a non-transitory computer-readable medium accessible by the computing device. The next event block object has an event block object identifier that is greater than the determined last published event block object identifier. The selected next event block object is published to an out-messaging network device. When the second status of the computing device is not newly active, the received event block object is published to the out-messaging network device. When the first status of the computing device is standby, the received event block object is stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium. 
       FIG.  11    is a flow chart of an example of a process for generating and using a machine-learning model according to some aspects. Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence that relates to mathematical models that can learn from, categorize, and make predictions about data. Such mathematical models, which can be referred to as machine-learning models, can classify input data among two or more classes; cluster input data among two or more groups; predict a result based on input data; identify patterns or trends in input data; identify a distribution of input data in a space; or any combination of these. Examples of machine-learning models can include (i) neural networks; (ii) decision trees, such as classification trees and regression trees; (iii) classifiers, such as Naïve bias classifiers, logistic regression classifiers, ridge regression classifiers, random forest classifiers, least absolute shrinkage and selector (LASSO) classifiers, and support vector machines; (iv) clusterers, such as k-means clusterers, mean-shift clusterers, and spectral clusterers; (v) factorizers, such as factorization machines, principal component analyzers and kernel principal component analyzers; and (vi) ensembles or other combinations of machine-learning models. In some examples, neural networks can include deep neural networks, feed-forward neural networks, recurrent neural networks, convolutional neural networks, radial basis function (RBF) neural networks, echo state neural networks, long short-term memory neural networks, bi-directional recurrent neural networks, gated neural networks, hierarchical recurrent neural networks, stochastic neural networks, modular neural networks, spiking neural networks, dynamic neural networks, cascading neural networks, neuro-fuzzy neural networks, or any combination of these. 
     Different machine-learning models may be used interchangeably to perform a task. Examples of tasks that can be performed at least partially using machine-learning models include various types of scoring; bioinformatics; cheminformatics; software engineering; fraud detection; customer segmentation; generating online recommendations; adaptive websites; determining customer lifetime value; search engines; placing advertisements in real time or near real time; classifying DNA sequences; affective computing; performing natural language processing and understanding; object recognition and computer vision; robotic locomotion; playing games; optimization and metaheuristics; detecting network intrusions; medical diagnosis and monitoring; or predicting when an asset, such as a machine, will need maintenance. 
     Any number and combination of tools can be used to create machine-learning models. Examples of tools for creating and managing machine-learning models can include SAS® Enterprise Miner, SAS® Rapid Predictive Modeler, and SAS® Model Manager, SAS Cloud Analytic Services (CAS)®, SAS Viya® of all which are by SAS Institute Inc. of Cary, N.C. 
     Machine-learning models can be constructed through an at least partially automated (e.g., with little or no human involvement) process called training. During training, input data can be iteratively supplied to a machine-learning model to enable the machine-learning model to identify patterns related to the input data or to identify relationships between the input data and output data. With training, the machine-learning model can be transformed from an untrained state to a trained state. Input data can be split into one or more training sets and one or more validation sets, and the training process may be repeated multiple times. The splitting may follow a k-fold cross-validation rule, a leave-one-out-rule, a leave-p-out rule, or a holdout rule. An overview of training and using a machine-learning model is described below with respect to the flow chart of  FIG.  11   . 
     In block  1102 , training data is received. In some examples, the training data is received from a remote database or a local database, constructed from various subsets of data, or input by a user. The training data can be used in its raw form for training a machine-learning model or pre-processed into another form, which can then be used for training the machine-learning model. For example, the raw form of the training data can be smoothed, truncated, aggregated, clustered, or otherwise manipulated into another form, which can then be used for training the machine-learning model. 
     In block  1104 , a machine-learning model is trained using the training data. The machine-learning model can be trained in a supervised, unsupervised, or semi-supervised manner. In supervised training, each input in the training data is correlated to a desired output. This desired output may be a scalar, a vector, or a different type of data structure such as text or an image. This may enable the machine-learning model to learn a mapping between the inputs and desired outputs. In unsupervised training, the training data includes inputs, but not desired outputs, so that the machine-learning model has to find structure in the inputs on its own. In semi-supervised training, only some of the inputs in the training data are correlated to desired outputs. 
     In block  1106 , the machine-learning model is evaluated. For example, an evaluation dataset can be obtained, for example, via user input or from a database. The evaluation dataset can include inputs correlated to desired outputs. The inputs can be provided to the machine-learning model and the outputs from the machine-learning model can be compared to the desired outputs. If the outputs from the machine-learning model closely correspond with the desired outputs, the machine-learning model may have a high degree of accuracy. For example, if 90% or more of the outputs from the machine-learning model are the same as the desired outputs in the evaluation dataset, the machine-learning model may have a high degree of accuracy. Otherwise, the machine-learning model may have a low degree of accuracy. The 90% number is an example only. A realistic and desirable accuracy percentage is dependent on the problem and the data. 
     In some examples, if, at  1108 , the machine-learning model has an inadequate degree of accuracy for a particular task, the process can return to block  1104 , where the machine-learning model can be further trained using additional training data or otherwise modified to improve accuracy. However, if, at  1108 . the machine-learning model has an adequate degree of accuracy for the particular task, the process can continue to block  1110 . 
     In block  1110 , new data is received. In some examples, the new data is received from a remote database or a local database, constructed from various subsets of data, or input by a user. The new data may be unknown to the machine-learning model. For example, the machine-learning model may not have previously processed or analyzed the new data. 
     In block  1112 , the trained machine-learning model is used to analyze the new data and provide a result. For example, the new data can be provided as input to the trained machine-learning model. The trained machine-learning model can analyze the new data and provide a result that includes a classification of the new data into a particular class, a clustering of the new data into a particular group, a prediction based on the new data, or any combination of these. 
     In block  1114 , the result is post-processed. For example, the result can be added to, multiplied with, or otherwise combined with other data as part of a job. As another example, the result can be transformed from a first format, such as a time series format, into another format, such as a count series format. Any number and combination of operations can be performed on the result during post-processing. 
     A more specific example of a machine-learning model is the neural network  1200  shown in  FIG.  12   . The neural network  1200  is represented as multiple layers of neurons  1208  that can exchange data between one another via connections  1255  that may be selectively instantiated thereamong. The layers include an input layer  1202  for receiving input data provided at inputs  1222 , one or more hidden layers  1204 , and an output layer  1206  for providing a result at outputs  1277 . The hidden layer(s)  1204  are referred to as hidden because they may not be directly observable or have their inputs or outputs directly accessible during the normal functioning of the neural network  1200 . Although the neural network  1200  is shown as having a specific number of layers and neurons for exemplary purposes, the neural network  1200  can have any number and combination of layers, and each layer can have any number and combination of neurons. 
     The neurons  1208  and connections  1255  thereamong may have numeric weights, which can be tuned during training of the neural network  1200 . For example, training data can be provided to at least the inputs  1222  to the input layer  1202  of the neural network  1200 , and the neural network  1200  can use the training data to tune one or more numeric weights of the neural network  1200 . In some examples, the neural network  1200  can be trained using backpropagation. Backpropagation can include determining a gradient of a particular numeric weight based on a difference between an actual output of the neural network  1200  at the outputs  1277  and a desired output of the neural network  1200 . Based on the gradient, one or more numeric weights of the neural network  1200  can be updated to reduce the difference therebetween, thereby increasing the accuracy of the neural network  1200 . This process can be repeated multiple times to train the neural network  1200 . For example, this process can be repeated hundreds or thousands of times to train the neural network  1200 . 
     In some examples, the neural network  1200  is a feed-forward neural network. In a feed-forward neural network, the connections  1255  are instantiated and/or weighted so that every neuron  1208  only propagates an output value to a subsequent layer of the neural network  1200 . For example, data may only move one direction (forward) from one neuron  1208  to the next neuron  1208  in a feed-forward neural network. Such a “forward” direction may be defined as proceeding from the input layer  1202  through the one or more hidden layers  1204 , and toward the output layer  1206 . 
     In other examples, the neural network  1200  may be a recurrent neural network. A recurrent neural network can include one or more feedback loops among the connections  1255 , thereby allowing data to propagate in both forward and backward through the neural network  1200 . Such a “backward” direction may be defined as proceeding in the opposite direction of forward, such as from the output layer  1206  through the one or more hidden layers  1204 , and toward the input layer  1202 . This can allow for information to persist within the recurrent neural network. For example, a recurrent neural network can determine an output based at least partially on information that the recurrent neural network has seen before, giving the recurrent neural network the ability to use previous input to inform the output. 
     In some examples, the neural network  1200  operates by receiving a vector of numbers from one layer; transforming the vector of numbers into a new vector of numbers using a matrix of numeric weights, a nonlinearity, or both; and providing the new vector of numbers to a subsequent layer (“subsequent” in the sense of moving “forward”) of the neural network  1200 . Each subsequent layer of the neural network  1200  can repeat this process until the neural network  1200  outputs a final result at the outputs  1277  of the output layer  1206 . For example, the neural network  1200  can receive a vector of numbers at the inputs  1222  of the input layer  1202 . The neural network  1200  can multiply the vector of numbers by a matrix of numeric weights to determine a weighted vector. The matrix of numeric weights can be tuned during the training of the neural network  1200 . The neural network  1200  can transform the weighted vector using a nonlinearity, such as a sigmoid tangent or the hyperbolic tangent. In some examples, the nonlinearity can include a rectified linear unit, which can be expressed using the equation y=max(x, 0) where y is the output and x is an input value from the weighted vector. The transformed output can be supplied to a subsequent layer (e.g., a hidden layer  1204 ) of the neural network  1200 . The subsequent layer of the neural network  1200  can receive the transformed output, multiply the transformed output by a matrix of numeric weights and a nonlinearity, and provide the result to yet another layer of the neural network  1200  (e.g., another, subsequent, hidden layer  1204 ). This process continues until the neural network  1200  outputs a final result at the outputs  1277  of the output layer  1206 . 
     As also depicted in  FIG.  12   , the neural network  1200  may be implemented either through the execution of the instructions of one or more routines  1244  by central processing units (CPUs), or through the use of one or more neuromorphic devices  1250  that incorporate a set of memristors (or other similar components) that each function to implement one of the neurons  1208  in hardware. Where multiple neuromorphic devices  1250  are used, they may be interconnected in a depth-wise manner to enable implementing neural networks with greater quantities of layers, and/or in a width-wise manner to enable implementing neural networks having greater quantities of neurons  1208  per layer. 
     The neuromorphic device  1250  may incorporate a storage interface  1299  by which neural network configuration data  1293  that is descriptive of various parameters and hyper parameters of the neural network  1200  may be stored and/or retrieved. More specifically, the neural network configuration data  1293  may include such parameters as weighting and/or biasing values derived through the training of the neural network  1200 , as has been described. Alternatively or additionally, the neural network configuration data  1293  may include such hyperparameters as the manner in which the neurons  1208  are to be interconnected (e.g., feed-forward or recurrent), the trigger function to be implemented within the neurons  1208 , the quantity of layers and/or the overall quantity of the neurons  1208 . The neural network configuration data  1293  may provide such information for more than one neuromorphic device  1250  where multiple ones have been interconnected to support larger neural networks. 
     Other examples of the present disclosure may include any number and combination of machine-learning models having any number and combination of characteristics. The machine-learning model(s) can be trained in a supervised, semi-supervised, or unsupervised manner, or any combination of these. The machine-learning model(s) can be implemented using a single computing device or multiple computing devices, such as the communications grid computing system  400  discussed above. 
     Implementing some examples of the present disclosure at least in part by using machine-learning models can reduce the total number of processing iterations, time, memory, electrical power, or any combination of these consumed by a computing device when analyzing data. For example, a neural network may more readily identify patterns in data than other approaches. This may enable the neural network to analyze the data using fewer processing cycles and less memory than other approaches, while obtaining a similar or greater level of accuracy. 
     Some machine-learning approaches may be more efficiently and speedily executed and processed with machine-learning specific processors (e.g., not a generic CPU). Such processors may also provide an energy savings when compared to generic CPUs. For example, some of these processors can include a graphical processing unit (GPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), an artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator, a neural computing core, a neural computing engine, a neural processing unit, a purpose-built chip architecture for deep learning, and/or some other machine-learning specific processor that implements a machine learning approach or one or more neural networks using semiconductor (e.g., silicon (Si), gallium arsenide (GaAs)) devices. These processors may also be employed in heterogeneous computing architectures with a number of and/or a variety of different types of cores, engines, nodes, and/or layers to achieve various energy efficiencies, processing speed improvements, data communication speed improvements, and/or data efficiency targets and improvements throughout various parts of the system when compared to a homogeneous computing architecture that employs CPUs for general purpose computing. 
       FIG.  13    illustrates various aspects of the use of containers  1336  as a mechanism to allocate processing, storage and/or other resources of a processing system  1300  to the performance of various analyses. More specifically, in a processing system  1300  that includes one or more node devices  1330  (e.g., the aforedescribed grid system  400 ), the processing, storage and/or other resources of each node device  1330  may be allocated through the instantiation and/or maintenance of multiple containers  1336  within the node devices  1330  to support the performance(s) of one or more analyses. As each container  1336  is instantiated, predetermined amounts of processing, storage and/or other resources may be allocated thereto as part of creating an execution environment therein in which one or more executable routines  1334  may be executed to cause the performance of part or all of each analysis that is requested to be performed. 
     It may be that at least a subset of the containers  1336  are each allocated a similar combination and amounts of resources so that each is of a similar configuration with a similar range of capabilities, and therefore, are interchangeable. This may be done in embodiments in which it is desired to have at least such a subset of the containers  1336  already instantiated prior to the receipt of requests to perform analyses, and thus, prior to the specific resource requirements of each of those analyses being known. 
     Alternatively or additionally, it may be that at least a subset of the containers  1336  are not instantiated until after the processing system  1300  receives requests to perform analyses where each request may include indications of the resources required for one of those analyses. Such information concerning resource requirements may then be used to guide the selection of resources and/or the amount of each resource allocated to each such container  1336 . As a result, it may be that one or more of the containers  1336  are caused to have somewhat specialized configurations such that there may be differing types of containers to support the performance of different analyses and/or different portions of analyses. 
     It may be that the entirety of the logic of a requested analysis is implemented within a single executable routine  1334 . In such embodiments, it may be that the entirety of that analysis is performed within a single container  1336  as that single executable routine  1334  is executed therein. However, it may be that such a single executable routine  1334 , when executed, is at least intended to cause the instantiation of multiple instances of itself that are intended to be executed at least partially in parallel. This may result in the execution of multiple instances of such an executable routine  1334  within a single container  1336  and/or across multiple containers  1336 . 
     Alternatively or additionally, it may be that the logic of a requested analysis is implemented with multiple differing executable routines  1334 . In such embodiments, it may be that at least a subset of such differing executable routines  1334  are executed within a single container  1336 . However, it may be that the execution of at least a subset of such differing executable routines  1334  is distributed across multiple containers  1336 . 
     Where an executable routine  1334  of an analysis is under development, and/or is under scrutiny to confirm its functionality, it may be that the container  1336  within which that executable routine  1334  is to be executed is additionally configured assist in limiting and/or monitoring aspects of the functionality of that executable routine  1334 . More specifically, the execution environment provided by such a container  1336  may be configured to enforce limitations on accesses that are allowed to be made to memory and/or I/O addresses to control what storage locations and/or I/O devices may be accessible to that executable routine  1334 . Such limitations may be derived based on comments within the programming code of the executable routine  1334  and/or other information that describes what functionality the executable routine  1334  is expected to have, including what memory and/or I/O accesses are expected to be made when the executable routine  1334  is executed. Then, when the executable routine  1334  is executed within such a container  1336 , the accesses that are attempted to be made by the executable routine  1334  may be monitored to identify any behavior that deviates from what is expected. 
     Where the possibility exists that different executable routines  1334  may be written in different programming languages, it may be that different subsets of containers  1336  are configured to support different programming languages. In such embodiments, it may be that each executable routine  1334  is analyzed to identify what programming language it is written in, and then what container  1336  is assigned to support the execution of that executable routine  1334  may be at least partially based on the identified programming language. Where the possibility exists that a single requested analysis may be based on the execution of multiple executable routines  1334  that may each be written in a different programming language, it may be that at least a subset of the containers  1336  are configured to support the performance of various data structure and/or data format conversion operations to enable a data object output by one executable routine  1334  written in one programming language to be accepted as an input to another executable routine  1334  written in another programming language. 
     As depicted, at least a subset of the containers  1336  may be instantiated within one or more VMs  1331  that may be instantiated within one or more node devices  1330 . Thus, in some embodiments, it may be that the processing, storage and/or other resources of at least one node device  1330  may be partially allocated through the instantiation of one or more VMs  1331 , and then in turn, may be further allocated within at least one VM  1331  through the instantiation of one or more containers  1336 . 
     In some embodiments, it may be that such a nested allocation of resources may be carried out to effect an allocation of resources based on two differing criteria. By way of example, it may be that the instantiation of VMs  1331  is used to allocate the resources of a node device  1330  to multiple users or groups of users in accordance with any of a variety of service agreements by which amounts of processing, storage and/or other resources are paid for each such user or group of users. Then, within each VM  1331  or set of VMs  1331  that is allocated to a particular user or group of users, containers  1336  may be allocated to distribute the resources allocated to each VM  1331  among various analyses that are requested to be performed by that particular user or group of users. 
     As depicted, where the processing system  1300  includes more than one node device  1330 , the processing system  1300  may also include at least one control device  1350  within which one or more control routines  1354  may be executed to control various aspects of the use of the node device(s)  1330  to perform requested analyses. By way of example, it may be that at least one control routine  1354  implements logic to control the allocation of the processing, storage and/or other resources of each node device  1300  to each VM  1331  and/or container  1336  that is instantiated therein. Thus, it may be the control device(s)  1350  that effects a nested allocation of resources, such as the aforedescribed example allocation of resources based on two differing criteria. 
     As also depicted, the processing system  1300  may also include one or more distinct requesting devices  1370  from which requests to perform analyses may be received by the control device(s)  1350 . Thus, and by way of example, it may be that at least one control routine  1354  implements logic to monitor for the receipt of requests from authorized users and/or groups of users for various analyses to be performed using the processing, storage and/or other resources of the node device(s)  1330  of the processing system  1300 . The control device(s)  1350  may receive indications of the availability of resources, the status of the performances of analyses that are already underway, and/or still other status information from the node device(s)  1330  in response to polling, at a recurring interval of time, and/or in response to the occurrence of various preselected events. More specifically, the control device(s)  1350  may receive indications of status for each container  1336 , each VM  1331  and/or each node device  1330 . At least one control routine  1354  may implement logic that may use such information to select container(s)  1336 , VM(s)  1331  and/or node device(s)  1330  that are to be used in the execution of the executable routine(s)  1334  associated with each requested analysis. 
     As further depicted, in some embodiments, the one or more control routines  1354  may be executed within one or more containers  1356  and/or within one or more VMs  1351  that may be instantiated within the one or more control devices  1350 . It may be that multiple instances of one or more varieties of control routine  1354  may be executed within separate containers  1356 , within separate VMs  1351  and/or within separate control devices  1350  to better enable parallelized control over parallel performances of requested analyses, to provide improved redundancy against failures for such control functions, and/or to separate differing ones of the control routines  1354  that perform different functions. By way of example, it may be that multiple instances of a first variety of control routine  1354  that communicate with the requesting device(s)  1370  are executed in a first set of containers  1356  instantiated within a first VM  1351 , while multiple instances of a second variety of control routine  1354  that control the allocation of resources of the node device(s)  1330  are executed in a second set of containers  1356  instantiated within a second VM  1351 . It may be that the control of the allocation of resources for performing requested analyses may include deriving an order of performance of portions of each requested analysis based on such factors as data dependencies thereamong, as well as allocating the use of containers  1336  in a manner that effectuates such a derived order of performance. 
     Where multiple instances of control routine  1354  are used to control the allocation of resources for performing requested analyses, such as the assignment of individual ones of the containers  1336  to be used in executing executable routines  1334  of each of multiple requested analyses, it may be that each requested analysis is assigned to be controlled by just one of the instances of control routine  1354 . This may be done as part of treating each requested analysis as one or more “ACID transactions” that each have the four properties of atomicity, consistency, isolation and durability such that a single instance of control routine  1354  is given full control over the entirety of each such transaction to better ensure that either all of each such transaction is either entirely performed or is entirely not performed. As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, allowing partial performances to occur may cause cache incoherencies and/or data corruption issues. 
     As additionally depicted, the control device(s)  1350  may communicate with the requesting device(s)  1370  and with the node device(s)  1330  through portions of a network  1399  extending thereamong. Again, such a network as the depicted network  1399  may be based on any of a variety of wired and/or wireless technologies, and may employ any of a variety of protocols by which commands, status, data and/or still other varieties of information may be exchanged. It may be that one or more instances of a control routine  1354  cause the instantiation and maintenance of a web portal or other variety of portal that is based on any of a variety of communication protocols, etc. (e.g., a restful API). Through such a portal, requests for the performance of various analyses may be received from requesting device(s)  1370 , and/or the results of such requested analyses may be provided thereto. Alternatively or additionally, it may be that one or more instances of a control routine  1354  cause the instantiation of and maintenance of a message passing interface and/or message queues. Through such an interface and/or queues, individual containers  1336  may each be assigned to execute at least one executable routine  1334  associated with a requested analysis to cause the performance of at least a portion of that analysis. 
     Although not specifically depicted, it may be that at least one control routine  1354  may include logic to implement a form of management of the containers  1336  based on the Kubernetes container management platform promulgated by Could Native Computing Foundation of San Francisco, Calif., USA. In such embodiments, containers  1336  in which executable routines  1334  of requested analyses may be instantiated within “pods” (not specifically shown) in which other containers may also be instantiated for the execution of other supporting routines. Such supporting routines may cooperate with control routine(s)  1354  to implement a communications protocol with the control device(s)  1350  via the network  1399  (e.g., a message passing interface, one or more message queues, etc.). Alternatively or additionally, such supporting routines may serve to provide access to one or more storage repositories (not specifically shown) in which at least data objects may be stored for use in performing the requested analyses. 
       FIG.  14 A  is a block diagram of an example embodiment of a distributed processing system  2000  incorporating one or more source devices  2100 , one or more reviewing devices  2800 , one or more federated devices  2500  that may form a federated device grid  2005 , and/or one or more storage devices  2600  that may form a storage device grid  2006 .  FIG.  14 B  illustrates exchanges, through a network  2999 , of communications among the devices  2100 ,  2500 ,  2600  and/or  2800  associated with the controlled storage of and/or access to various objects within one or more federated areas  2566 , and/or the performance of job flows of analyses associated therewith.  FIG.  14 C  illustrates embodiments in which such exchanges are performed in response to requests from the devices  2100  and/or  2800 .  FIG.  14 D  illustrates embodiments in which such exchanges are performed as part of a pre-arranged synchronization of storage spaces among the devices  2100 ,  2500 ,  2600  and/or  2800 .  FIG.  14 E  illustrates an embodiment in which virtual machines (VMs)  2505  are instantiated within at least the federated devices  2500 .  FIGS.  14 F-H  illustrate various embodiments of the manner in which such objects may be caused to be stored as a result of such exchanges. 
     Referring to both  FIGS.  14 A and  14 B , communications among the devices  2100 ,  2500 ,  2600  and/or  2800  may include the exchange of objects for the performance of job flows, such as job flow definitions  2220 , directed acyclic graphs (DAGs)  2270 , data sets  2330  and/or  2370 , task routines  2440 , macros  2470  and/or result reports  2770 . The purposes for such exchanges may be simply to store such objects within one or more federated areas  2566  and/or to retrieve such objects therefrom, and/or to trigger performances of job flows using such objects. However, one or more of the devices  2100 ,  2500 ,  2600  and/or  2800  may also exchange, via the network  2999 , other data entirely unrelated to any object stored within any federated area  2566 . In various embodiments, the network  2999  may be a single network that may extend within a single building or other relatively limited area, a combination of connected networks that may extend a considerable distance, and/or may include the Internet. Thus, the network  2999  may be based on any of a variety (or combination) of communications technologies by which communications may be effected, including without limitation, wired technologies employing electrically and/or optically conductive cabling, and wireless technologies employing infrared, radio frequency (RF) or other forms of wireless transmission. 
     In various embodiments, each of the one or more source devices  2100  may incorporate one or more of an input device  2110 , a display  2180 , a processor  2150 , a storage  2160  and a network interface  2190  to couple each of the one or more source devices  2100  to the network  2999 . The storage  2160  may store a control routine  2140 , one or more job flow definitions  2220 , one or more DAGs  2270 , one or more data sets  2330 , one or more task routines  2440  and/or one or more macros  2470 . The control routine  2140  may incorporate a sequence of instructions operative on the processor  2150  of each of the one or more source devices  2100  to implement logic to perform various functions. In embodiments in which multiple ones of the source devices  2100  are operated together as a grid of the source devices  2100 , the sequence of instructions of the control routine  2140  may be operative on the processor  2150  of each of those source devices  2100  to perform various functions at least partially in parallel with the processors  2150  of others of the source devices  2100 . 
     In some embodiments, one or more of the source devices  2100  may be operated by persons and/or entities (e.g., scholastic entities, governmental entities, business entities, etc.) to generate and/or maintain analysis routines, that when executed by one or more processors, causes an analysis of data to be performed. In such embodiments, execution of the control routine  2140  may cause the processor  2150  to operate the input device  2110  and/or the display  2180  to provide a user interface (UI) by which an operator of the source device  2100  may use the source device  2100  to develop such analysis routines and/or to test their functionality by causing the processor  2150  to execute such routines. As will be explained in greater detail, a rule imposed in connection with such use of a federated area  2566  may be that routines to be stored and/or executed therein are required to be divided up into a combination of a set of objects, including a set of task routines  2440  and a job flow definition  2220 . Each of the task routines  2440  performs a distinct task, and the job flow definition  2220  defines the analysis to be performed as a job flow as a combination of tasks to be performed in a particular order through the execution of the set of task routines  2440  in that particular order to thereby perform the job flow. Thus, the source device  2100  may be used in generating such objects which may then be stored within one or more federated areas  2566 . 
     The tasks that each of the task routines  2440  may cause a processor to perform may include any of a variety of data analysis tasks, data transformation tasks and/or data normalization tasks. The data analysis tasks may include, and are not limited to, searches and/or statistical analyses that entail derivation of approximations, numerical characterizations, models, evaluations of hypotheses, and/or predictions (e.g., a prediction by Bayesian analysis of actions of a crowd trying to escape a burning building, or of the behavior of bridge components in response to a wind forces). The data transformation tasks may include, and are not limited to, sorting, row and/or column-based mathematical operations, row and/or column-based filtering using one or more data items of a row or column, and/or reordering data items within a data object. The data normalization tasks may include, and are not limited to, normalizing times of day, dates, monetary values (e.g., normalizing to a single unit of currency), character spacing, use of delimiter characters (e.g., normalizing use of periods and commas in numeric values), use of formatting codes, use of big or little Endian encoding, use or lack of use of sign bits, quantities of bits used to represent integers and/or floating point values (e.g., bytes, words, doublewords or quadwords), etc. 
     In some embodiments, the UI provided by one or more of the source devices  2100  may take the form of a touch-sensitive device paired with a stylus that serves to enable sketch input by an operator of a source device  2100 . As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, this may entail the combining of the display  2180  and the input device  2110  into a single UI device that is able to provide visual feedback to the operator of the successful sketch entry of visual tokens and of text. Through such sketch input, the operator may specify aspects of a GUI that is to be provided during a performance of a job flow to provide an easier and more intuitive user interface by which a user may provide input needed for the performance of that job flow. Following recognition and interpretation of the visual tokens and/or text within the sketch input, a set of executable GUI instructions to implement the GUI may be stored as part of a job flow definition  2220  for such a job flow. 
     In some embodiments, one or more of the source devices  2100  may, alternatively or additionally, serve to assemble one or more flow input data sets  2330 . In such embodiments, execution of the control routine  2140  by the processor  2150  may cause the processor  2150  to operate the network interface  2190 , the input device  2110  and/or one or more other components (not shown) to receive data items and to assemble those received data items into one or more of the data sets  2330 . By way of example, one or more of the source devices  2100  may incorporate and/or be in communication with one or more sensors to receive data items associated with the monitoring of natural phenomena (e.g., geological or meteorological events) and/or with the performance of a scientific or other variety of experiment (e.g., a thermal camera or sensors disposed about a particle accelerator). By way of another example, the processor  2150  of one or more of the source devices  2100  may be caused by its execution of the control routine  2140  to operate the network interface  2190  to await transmissions via the network  2999  from one or more other devices providing at least at portion of at least one data set  2330 . 
     Regardless of the exact manner in which flow input data sets  2330  are generated, each flow input data set  2330  may include any of a wide variety of types of data associated with any of a wide variety of subjects. By way of example, each flow input data set  2330  may include scientific observation data concerning geological and/or meteorological events, or from sensors employed in laboratory experiments in areas such as particle physics. By way of another example, the each flow input data set  2330  may include indications of activities performed by a random sample of individuals of a population of people in a selected country or municipality, or of a population of a threatened species under study in the wild. 
     In various embodiments, each of the one or more reviewing devices  2800  may incorporate one or more of an input device  2810 , a display  2880 , a processor  2850 , a storage  2860  and a network interface  2890  to couple each of the one or more reviewing devices  2800  to the network  2999 . The storage  2860  may store a control routine  2840 , one or more DAGs  2270 , one or more data sets  2370 , one or more macros  2470 , one or more instance logs  2720 , and/or one or more result reports  2770 . The control routine  2840  may incorporate a sequence of instructions operative on the processor  2850  of each of the one or more reviewing devices  2800  to implement logic to perform various functions. In embodiments in which multiple ones of the reviewing devices  2800  are operated together as a grid of the reviewing devices  2800 , the sequence of instructions of the control routine  2840  may be operative on the processor  2850  of each of those reviewing devices  2800  to perform various functions at least partially in parallel with the processors  2850  of others of the reviewing devices  2800 . 
     In some embodiments, one or more of the reviewing devices  2800  may be operated by persons and/or entities (e.g., scholastic entities, governmental entities, business entities, etc.) to utilize and/or perform reviews of analysis routines that have been stored in one or more federated areas  2566  as a set of objects, such as a set of task routines  2440  and a job flow definition  2220 . In such embodiments, execution of the control routine  2840  may cause the processor  2850  to operate the input device  2810  and/or the display  2880  to provide a user interface by which an operator of the reviewing device  2800  may use the reviewing device  2800  to view result reports  2770  and/or instance logs  2720  generated by new and/or past performances of job flows. Alternatively, an operator of the reviewing device  2800  may use the reviewing device  2800  to audit aspects of new and/or past performances of job flows, including selections of flow input data sets  2330  used, selections of task routines  2440  used, and/or mid-flow data sets  2370  that were generated and exchanged between task routines  2440 , as well as viewing result reports  2770  and/or instance logs  2720 . By way of example, the operator of one of the reviewing devices  2800  may be associated with a scholastic, governmental or business entity that seeks to review a performance of a job flow of an analysis that was created by another entity. Such a review may be a peer review between two or more entities involved in scientific or other research, and may be focused on confirming assumptions on which algorithms were based and/or the correctness of the performance of those algorithms. Alternatively, such a review may be part of an inspection by a government agency into the quality of the analyses performed by and relied upon by a business in making decisions and/or assessing its own financial soundness, and may seek to confirm whether correct legally required calculations were used. 
     In various embodiments, each of the one or more federated devices  2500  may incorporate one or more of a processor  2550 , a storage  2560 , one or more neuromorphic devices  2570 , and a network interface  2590  to couple each of the one or more federated devices  2500  to the network  2999 . The storage  2560  may store control routines  2510  and/or  2540 . In some embodiments, part of the storage  2560  may be allocated for at least a portion of one or more federated areas  2566 . In other embodiments, each of the one or more federated devices  2500  may incorporate and/or be coupled to one or more storage devices  2600  within which storage space may be allocated for at least a portion of one or more federated areas  2566  in addition to or in lieu of storage space within the storage(s)  2560  being so allocated. 
     More precisely, some embodiments of the distributed processing system  2000  may not include the one or more storage devices  2600 , at all, and the one or more federated areas  2566  may be defined entirely within the storage(s)  2560  of the one or more federated devices  2500 . Other embodiments of the distributed processing system  2000  may include the one or more storage devices  2600  as storage peripherals (e.g., one or more hard drives) and/or network-attached storage (NAS) device(s) that may be coupled to the one or more federated devices  2500 , and the one or more federated devices  2500  may operate the one or more storage devices  2600  as additional storage in which the one or more federated areas  2566  may be defined. In still other embodiments, each of the one or more storage devices  2600  may be an independent computing device incorporating its own processor  2650  and storage  2660  coupled to the processor  2650  (depicted in  FIGS.  14 F-G ), and may be capable of serving the function of maintaining the one or more federated areas  2566  (under the control of the one or more federated devices  2500 ), and/or serving the function of employing its own processing resources to perform job flows in addition to or in lieu of the processing resources of the one or more federated devices  2500  being employed to do so. 
     Regardless of where storage space is allocated for one or more federated areas  2566 , each of the one or more federated areas  2566  may hold one or more objects such as one or more job flow definitions  2220 , one or more DAGs  2270 , one or more flow input data sets  2330 , one or more task routines  2440 , one or more macros  2470 , one or more instance logs  2720 , and/or one or more result reports  2770 . In embodiments in which a job flow is performed by the one or more federated devices  2500  (or by the one or more storage devices  2600 ) within a federated area  2566 , such a federated area  2566  may at least temporarily hold one or more mid-flow data sets  2370  during times when one or more of the mid-flow data sets  2370  are generated by and exchanged between task routines  2440  during the performance of the job flow. In embodiments in which a DAG  2270  is generated by the one or more federated devices  2500  within a federated area  2566  to provide a visualization of aspects of a job flow, a particular performance of a job flow and/or one or more task routines  2440 , such a federated area  2566  may at least temporarily hold one or more macros  2470  during times when one or more of the macros  2470  are generated as part of generating the DAG  2270 . 
     In some embodiments that include the one or more storage devices  2600  in addition to the one or more federated devices  2500 , the maintenance of the one or more federated areas  2566  within such separate and distinct storage devices  2600  may be part of an approach of specialization between the federated devices  2500  and the storage devices  2600 . More specifically, there may be numerous ones of the federated devices  2500  forming the grid  2005  in which each of the federated devices  2500  may incorporate processing and/or other resources selected to better enable the execution of task routines  2440  as part of performing job flows defined by the job flow definitions  2220 , the generation of DAGs  2270 , and/or other processing functions associated with developing, performing and/or analyzing aspects of job flows. Correspondingly, there may be numerous ones of the storage devices  2600  forming the grid  2006  in which the storage devices  2600  may be organized and interconnected in a manner providing a distributed storage system that may provide increased speed of access to objects within each of the one or more federated areas  2566  through parallelism, and/or may provide fault tolerance of storage. Such distributed storage may also be deemed desirable to better accommodate the storage of particularly large ones of the data sets  2330  and/or  2370 , as well as any particularly large data sets that may be incorporated into one or more of the result reports  2770 . 
     However, as an alternative to such a division of functions between the devices  2500  and  2600 , or as an augmentation thereto, and even if the one or more federated devices  2500  incorporate considerably more and/or better suited processing resources, it may be deemed desirable for the one or more storage devices  2600  to perform at least a subset of the job flows. As previously explained, it may be that a data object (e.g., a data set  2330  or  2370 , or a result report  2770 ) is received by the one or more federated devices  2500  that is of sufficient size that exchanging it among the devices  2500  and  2600  for use as an input to performing a job flow is deemed to be undesirable due to the amount of overhead that would be incurred in doing so (e.g., consumption of time and various resources). In such instances, it may be deemed desirable to utilize the processing resources of the one or more storage devices  2600  to perform such a job flow so that such a large data object may be used as an input thereto without exchanging portions of it (or all of it) among devices. Indeed, the overhead of moving such a data object to the one or more federated devices  2500  may be significant enough as to outweigh whatever advantages in processing speed and/or efficiency that the processing resources of the one or more federated devices  2500  would provide over using the processing resources of the one or more storage devices  2600 . 
     The control routines  2510  and  2540  may each incorporate a sequence of instructions operative on the processor  2550  of each of the one or more federated devices  2500  to implement logic to perform various functions. In embodiments in which multiple ones of the federated devices  2500  are operated together as the grid  2005  of the federated devices  2500 , the sequence of instructions of the control routine  2540  may be operative on the processor  2550  of each of the federated devices  2500  to perform various functions at least partially in parallel with the processors  2550  of others of the federated devices  2500 . As will be described in greater detail, among such functions may be the at least partially parallel performance of job flows defined by one or more of the job flow definitions  2220 , which may include the at least partially parallel execution of one or more of the task routines  2440  to perform tasks specified by the one or more job flow definitions  2220 . As will also be described in greater detail, also among such functions may be the operation of the one or more neuromorphic devices  2570  to instantiate, develop and/or utilize one or more neural networks, or one or more neural network ensembles, to enable neuromorphic processing to be employed in the performance of one or more tasks and/or job flows. Where such functions are performed, one or more data sets  2330  and/or  2370  that include hyperparameters and/or trained parameters of one or more neural networks may be generated, analyzed, modified and/or transferred as a result of the performances of those functions. 
     Regarding the control routine  2540 , and as will be discussed repeatedly throughout the present application, the control routine  2540  may be made up of multiple different components  2541  through  2549 . In some embodiments, the control routine  2540  may be generated as a single software routine in which each of these components may be callable subparts (e.g., subroutines, etc.). However, in other embodiments, it may be deemed desirable to allow different portions of the control routine  2540  to be executed by different cores of different processors that may exist within different devices, and/or it may be deemed desirable to allow multiple instances of some portions of the control routine  2540  to be run independently of each other and at least partially in parallel. To accommodate this, it may be that one or more of the components  2541  through  2549  is a separately executable, and perhaps fully self contained, software routine. 
     Regarding the control routine  2510 , and as will be discussed in greater detail, the control routine  2510  may be made up of multiple different components executable by one or more processor(s)  2550  to coordinate at least partially parallel performances of various support functions that enable such at least partially parallel performances of tasks and/or job flows. Such support functions may include the monitoring of the status of devices  2500  and/or  2600 , and/or of the resources provided by each. Alternatively or additionally, such support functions may include the instantiation of virtual machines (VMs)  2505  within federated device(s)  2500 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  14 C , as depicted, the control routine  2540  may include a federated area component  2546  to cause the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  to maintain the one or more federated areas  2566  within the storage  2560  of each of the one or more federated devices  2500  and/or within the one or more storage devices  2600 . Many of the operations that the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused to perform by execution of the control routine  2540 , including the instantiation, maintenance and/or un-instantiation of the one or more federated areas  2566 , may be in response to requests received via the network  2999  from the one or more source devices  2100  and/or from the one or more reviewing devices  2800 . Also, many of such received requests may entail the exchange of one or more objects. 
     As also depicted, the control routine  2540  may also include a portal component  2549  to cause the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  to limit access to the one or more federated areas  2566  to particular authorized persons and/or particular authorized devices that may be associated with one or more particular corporate, governmental, scholastic and/or other types of entities. Correspondingly, the processor(s)  2150  of the one or more source devices  2100  may be caused by execution of the control routine  2140  to provide a UI that enables an operator thereof to send such requests to the one or more federated devices  2500 , and/or the processor(s)  2850  of the one or more reviewing devices  2800  may be caused by execution of the control routine  2840  to provide a UI that enables an operator thereof to do so. The processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused by the portal component  2549  to cooperate, via the network  2999 , with the requesting device  2100  or  2800  to cause the UI provided thereby to present the operator thereof with a request for a password or other security credential to verify that the operator and/or the requesting device  2100  or  2800  is authorized to make the particular request that has been made. 
     Alternatively or additionally, some interactions with a requesting device  2100  or  2800 , including requests that may be transmitted via the network  2999  to the one or more federated devices  2566 , may be automated. In embodiments in which such automated requests are made, the requesting device  2100  or  2800  may automatically provide security credentials to the one or more federated devices  2500  to verify that the requesting device  2100  or  2800  is authorized to make the particular request that has been made. 
     In some embodiments, the requests received by the one or more federated devices  2500  received via the network  2999  and/or the responses transmitted by the one or more federated devices  2500  thereto via the network  2999  may employ formatting, syntax, timing, synchronization with other activities, etc. that conform to one or more industry standards for network communications, programming, processor coordination, etc. By way of example, such aspects of such requests may conform to one or more of the various versions of the specification for the message-passing interface (MPI) promulgated by the MPI Forum, which is a cooperative venture by numerous governmental, corporate and academic entities from around the world. As will be explained in greater detail, one or more objects may be exchanged in such requests and/or in such responses thereto as portions of streamed data that is included therewith. 
     As further depicted, the control routine  2540  may also include an interpretation component  2547  to cause the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  to, in response to any of a variety of error conditions that may arise in performing a requested operation and/or in response to instances in which a request is to be denied, generate a graphical indication of the error and/or the cause for denial. Such a graphical indication may take the form of a DAG  2270  that provides a visual indication of an error or other condition within an object and/or between two or more objects, and may entail interpreting portions of executable instructions, definitions of job flows, specifications of input and/or output interfaces, comments written by programmers, etc., within such objects as job flow definitions  2220 , task routines  2440  and/or instance logs  2720 . Upon being generated, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the portal component  2549  to relay such graphical indications (e.g., DAGs  2270 ) to the requesting device to be visually presented to an operator thereof and/or stored therein for a future visual presentation to an operator thereof. 
     Among such requests may be a request to store one or more objects within a federated area  2566 , to access one or more objects stored within a federated area  2566  and/or to delete one or more objects stored within a federated area  2566 . As depicted, the control routine  2540  may include an admission component  2542  to cause the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  to apply a set of rules that place constraints on the storage of objects within federated areas and/or the removal of objects therefrom to ensure that job flows are able to be fully performed and/or that past performances of job flows are able to be repeated as part of being scrutinized. In so applying such rules, the processor(s)  2550 , in response to the request, may fully or partially carry out the requested operations, which may result in the exchange of one or more objects via the network  2999  between the requesting device  2100  or  2800  and the one or more federated devices  2500 , depending on the application of such a set of rules. Alternatively, in response, the processor(s)  2550  may transmit an indication of a refusal, via the network  2999  and to the requesting device, to carry out the requested operations, depending on the application of such a set of rules. Such an indication may include a DAG  2270  that visually presents an indication of the reason for the refusal. 
     Among such requests may be a request for the one or more federated devices  2500  to convert a spreadsheet data structure into a set of objects required for the performance of an analysis as a job flow, and to store those generated objects within a federated area  2566 . Such a spreadsheet data structure may contain one or more two-dimensional arrays of data and multiple formulae for the performance of the analysis. In response, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may analyze the included data and the formulae to derive a set of task routines and a job flow definition that is able to perform the analysis specified in the data structure in a manner that may be better optimized for a performance of the analysis as a job flow using distributed processing resources of the one or more federated devices  2500 . Additionally, the processor(s)  2550  may generate a DAG  2270  to provide a visual representation of the resulting job flow. 
     Among such requests may be a request for the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  to perform a job flow. It may be that such a request conveys a job flow identifier and/or an instance log identifier that enables the identification of the job flow requested to be performed, thereby allowing an already generated job flow definition that defines various aspects of the job flow to be retrieved from storage, along with other objects, to enable the requested performance of the job flow. However, it may also be (e.g., where the request conforms to one or more of the MPI specifications) that the request does not provide either a job flow identifier or an instance log identifier, and instead, directly provides portions of the content of a job flow definition, such as flow task identifiers, specifications of interfaces and/or data object identifiers, thereby enabling a job flow definition that defines various aspects of the job flow to be dynamically generated as part of enabling the job flow to be performed. 
     Regardless of the exact manner in which a request to perform a job flow is received, the processor(s)  2550  may, in response, retrieve the various objects needed for the performance, including the most up to date versions of the task routines  2440  needed to perform each of the tasks specified in the job flow definition  2220  for the job flow. The processor(s)  2550  may additionally check whether the job flow has already been performed with the same set of most up to date task routines  2440 , and if so, may then transmit the result report(s)  2770  of that past performance to the requesting device  2100  or  2800  in lieu of performing what would be a repetition of that past performance. In this way, processing resources may be conserved for use in performing other operations, including other job flows. 
     Alternatively, where the request is to repeat a particular past performance of a job flow, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices may, in response, use the information included in the request that identifies the job flow to retrieve the various objects associated with the past performance (e.g., the job flow definition  2220 , the flow input data set(s)  2330 , the task routines  2440 ) from one or more federated areas  2566 , and may then use the retrieved objects to repeat the past performance. In some embodiments, the processor(s)  2550  may also retrieve the results report(s)  2770  generated by the past performance for comparison with the corresponding result report(s)  2770  generated by the repeat performance, and may transmit an indication of the results thereof to the requesting device  2100  or  2800 . Such an indication of the results may include a DAG  2270  that may provide a visual indication of any inconsistency identified by the comparison. 
     Among such requests may be a request for the one or more federated devices  2500  to generate a DAG  2270  of one or more objects, such as a DAG  2270  of one or more task routines  2440 , the task(s) performed by one or more task routines  2440 , a job flow specified in a job flow definition  2220 , or a past performance of a job flow documented by an instance log  2720 . A DAG  2270  may provide visual representations of one or more tasks and/or task routines  2440 , including visual representations of inputs and/or outputs of each. In response, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may generate the requested DAG  2270  and transmit it the requesting device  2100  or  2800 . As an alternative to a request to generate a DAG  2270  using the processing resources of the one or more federated devices  2500 , a request may be received for the one or more federated devices  2500  to provide the requesting device  2100  or  2800  a set of objects needed to enable the requesting device  2100  or  2800  to generate a DAG  2270 . In response, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may generate a set of macros  2470 , one for each task or task routine  2440  that is to be included in the DAG  2270  for purposes of being transmitted to the requesting device  2100  or  2800  to enable generation of the DAG  2270  by the requesting device  2100  or  2800 . 
     Among such requests may be a request to generate a package containing copies of one or more of the federated areas  2566  maintained by the one or more federated devices  2500  to enable the copies of the one or more federated areas  2566  to be instantiated within one or more other devices. The request may specify that each copy of a federated area  2566  that is within the package is to include copies of all of the objects present within the counterpart federated area  2566  from which the copy is generated. Alternatively, the request may specify that each of copy of a federated area that is within the package is to include copies of objects present within the counterpart federated area  2566  from which the copy is generated that are needed to perform a specified job flow and/or that are needed to repeat a specified past performance of a job flow. In some embodiments, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may, in response, apply a set of rules to the generation of the package to ensure that the copies of federated area(s) included therein and/or the copies of sets of objects included within each copy of a federated area  2566  is complete enough to avoid one or more job flows being rendered incapable of being performed as a result of copies of one or more needed objects not having been included in the package. Following generation of the package, the processor(s)  2550  may transmit the package to the requesting device  2100  or  2800 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  14 D , as an alternative to the use of separate requests to bring about individual transfers of one or more objects to and from the one or more federated devices  2500 , a single request may be made and granted by the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  to instantiate a synchronization relationship between a transfer area  2666  instantiated within a specified federated area  2566  maintained by the one or more federated devices  2500 , and another transfer area  2166  or  2866  instantiated within the storage  2160  or  2860  of a source device  2100  or a reviewing device  2800 , respectively. The transfer area  2666  may occupy the entirety of the federated area  2566  within which it is instantiated, or a designated portion thereof. Correspondingly, the transfer area  2166  or  2866  may occupy a designated portion of the storage  2160  or  2860 , respectively. With such a synchronization relationship in place, the contents of the transfer area  2666  may be recurringly synchronized with the contents of the transfer area  2166  or  2866 . More specifically, changes made to objects within the transfer area  2666  (e.g., the addition, removal and/or alteration of objects) may trigger the transfer of one or more objects therefrom to the transfer area  2166  or  2866  to cause the contents of these two transfer areas to remain synchronized with each other. Correspondingly, changes made to objects within the transfer area  2166  or  2866  may trigger a similar transfer of one or more objects therefrom to the transfer area  2666  to also cause the contents of these two transfer areas to remain synchronized with each other. 
     In some embodiments, processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may cooperate with the other device  2100  or  2800  in the triggering of such transfers by recurringly exchanging indications of the current state of the objects stored in their respective ones of the transfer areas  2666 , and  2166  or  2866 . By way of example, a polling approach may be used in which the one or more federated devices  2500  may be provided with the security credentials required to “log in” to the other device  2100  or  2800  to gain access to the transfers space  2166  or  2866  in a manner similar to that of a user of the other device  2100  or  2800 , and may then compare what objects are present within the transfer space  2166  or  2866 , respectively, to what objects were present during the last time such a check was performed to identify added objects, altered objects and/or removed objects therein. Correspondingly, as an alternative, the other device  2100  or  2800  may be provided with similar credentials to enable the processor(s)  2150  or  2850  thereof to “log in” to the one or more federated devices  2500  to make similar comparisons concerning the objects that are present within the transfer space  2666 . Where a change to an object in one of these transfer areas has been determined to have occurred, the one of these devices that has “logged in” to the other may then make a request of the other to provide the copies of one or more objects that are needed to bring its own one of these transfer areas back into synchronization with the other such that both of these transfer areas again contain the same objects in the same condition. 
     In other embodiments, as an alternative to or in addition to such a polling approach, an approach of “volunteering” indications may be used in which the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may, either at a recurring interval of time or in response to the occurrence of changes to one or more objects within the transfer area  2666 , transmit an indication of the current state of objects currently present within the transfer area  2666  to the other device  2100  or  2800 . Where there has been such a change within the transfer area  2666 , such a transmitted indication thereof may be accompanied with the transmission of one or more copies of the objects that are present within the transfer area  2666  to the other device  2100  or  2800  to enable the processor(s)  2150  or  2850  of the other device  2100  or  2800  to bring the transfer area  2166  or  2866 , respectively, back into synchronization with the transfer area  2666  such that both of these transfer areas again contain the same objects in the same condition. Correspondingly, the processor(s)  2150  or  2850  may be use such a “volunteering” approach in similarly transmitting an indication of the current state of the objects currently present within the transfer area  2166  or  2866  to the one or more federated devices  2500 , either at a recurring interval of time or in response to the occurrence of changes to one or more objects within the transfer area  2166  or  2866 , respectively. Similarly, where there has been such a change within the transfer area  2166  or  2866 , such a transmitted indication thereof may be accompanied with the transmission of one or more copies of the objects that are present within the transfer area  2166  or  2866  to the one or more federated devices  2500  to enable the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  to bring the transfer area  2666  back into synchronization with the transfer area  2166  or  2866 , respectively, such that both of these transfer areas again contain the same objects in the same condition. 
     In some embodiments, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused by the admission component  2542  to apply the same set of rules restricting the storage of objects within the one or more federated areas  2566  and/or the removal of objects therefrom as were described above in handling responses to received requests. However, in other embodiments and as will be explained in greater detail, accommodating such a synchronization relationship may entail changes to, or relaxation of, the enforcement of that set of rules. In such other embodiments, instead of applying the set of rules in a manner that disallows the transfer of objects in response to an error condition or other violation of the rules, a DAG  2270  may be generated that provides a visual indication of the rule violation and/or the error condition. Upon being generated, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the portal component  2549  to automatically transfer such a DAG  2270  between the two transfer areas as part of the synchronization relationship and to make such a DAG  2270  available in both transfer areas. 
     In some embodiments, such a synchronization relationship may be instantiated where the device  2100  or  2800  is at least partially used as a repository for objects, such as a source code repository for an analysis routine that is under development. As will also be explained in greater detail, it may be that developers who are familiar with the use of federated areas  2566  and/or who have been granted access to the one or more federated areas  2566  maintained by the one or more federated devices  2500  may be working in collaboration with other developers who are not so familiar with the use of federated areas  2566  and/or who have not been granted such access. Through such a synchronization relationship, objects developed by such other developers may be contributed to the objects stored within the one or more federated areas  2566  by placing them within the transfer area  2166  or  2866 . Correspondingly, such other developers may be given access to objects stored within the one or more federated areas  2566  by placing those objects (or copies thereof) within the transfer area  2666 . 
     As will further be explained in greater detail, such other developers may also not be familiar with a primary programming language that may normally be expected to be used in generating job flow definitions  2220 , DAGs  2270 , task routines  2440  and/or macros  2470 , and as a result, may generate such objects in one or more secondary programming languages. Thus, as part of performing such automated transfers and applying the set of rules, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may also perform automated translations of at least portions of objects that define or implement input and/or output interfaces. Such translations may be between the primary and secondary programming languages. Alternatively or additionally, such translations may be from the primary and secondary programming languages, and into an intermediate representation, such as an intermediate programming language or a data structure, to enable the earlier described comparisons among definitions and/or implementations of input and/or output interfaces to be made. 
     As an alternative to the aforedescribed relatively simple synchronization relationship between a single transfer area  2666  within a single federated area  2566  and a single transfer area  2166  or  2866  within a single storage  2160  or  2860 , respectively, in other embodiments, a set of synchronization relationships may be formed that includes multiple transfer areas  2666  across multiple federated areas  2566  and/or that includes multiple transfer areas  2166  or  2866  within a storage  2160  or  2860 , respectively. Such embodiments may be deemed desirable where there is a collaborative development effort to develop a relatively complex analysis routine between developers familiar with federated areas and/or familiar with the primary programming language normally expected to be used in generating job flow definitions  2220 , DAGs  2270 , task routines  2440  and/or macros  2470 , and developers who may not be familiar with either or both. More specifically, and as will be explained in greater detail, the objects used in the development of such a relatively complex analysis routine may be stored across multiple federated areas  2566  that form a hierarchy thereamong, thereby prompting a need to define a separate transfer area  2666  within each. It may be that a corresponding hierarchy may be created within a storage  2160  or  2860  as a set of directories and/or subdirectories, each with a corresponding transfer area  2166  or  2866 , respectively. Thus, each of the multiple transfer areas  2666  within one of such federated areas  2566  may have a corresponding one of the multiple transfer areas  2166  or  2866  at a corresponding hierarchical position with which it is synchronized. 
     Alternatively or additionally, as an alternative to the performance of exchanges of objects occurring in a synchronization relationship being triggered by instances of changes in objects, in other embodiments, exchanges between synchronized transfer areas may also be triggered by an instance of the use of an object to generate a new object. By way of example, and as will be explained in greater detail, where an object, such as a job flow definition  2220  or a DAG  2270 , is used as a component in forming a new object, such as a new job flow definition  2220  or a new DAG  2270 , such a new object may be become another of the objects that are kept synchronized in a synchronization relationship between transfer areas. Thus, and more specifically, such a new object, and subsequent changes made thereto, may be copied between a transfer area  2566  and another transfer area  2166  or  2866 . Alternatively, where different programming languages are used, a translated form of such a new object, and of subsequent changes made thereto, may be generated in the other language within the other of the two transfer areas. 
     Turning to  FIG.  14 E , as depicted, the control routine  2510  may include a device allocation component  2519  that is executable by one or more processors  2550  of one or more federated devices  2500  to cause the monitoring and/or allocation of the resources of various devices  2500  and/or  2600  of the distributed processing system  2000 . As also depicted the control routine  2510  may include a VM allocation component  2511  that is executable by one or more processors  2550  of one or more federated devices  2500  to selectively instantiate, monitor and/or control VMs  2505  within one or more federated devices  2500 . In some embodiments, VMs may also be so instantiated, monitored and/or controlled within one or more storage devices  2600 . 
     In some embodiments, execution of the device allocation component  2519  by processor(s)  2550  may cause ongoing monitoring of the federated device(s)  2500  of the distributed processing system  2000 . Such monitoring may entail the exchange of indications of status among devices  2500  and/or  2600  via the network  2999 . Such monitoring may include the ongoing and repeated receipt of indications of availability or unavailability (and/or other status details) of each federated device  2500  and/or of each storage device  2600  to detect instances of a device  2500  or  2600  becoming unavailable due to any of a variety of types of failure and/or due to other events (e.g., being shut down for maintenance and/or repair). Alternatively or additionally, such monitoring may include the ongoing and repeated receipt of indications of levels of availability of various processing, storage and/or other resources provided by each of the devices  2500  and/or  2600  to detect changes in such levels that may serve as triggers for reallocating the manner in which such resources are used to support the execution of various routines and/or of various instances of routines (e.g., instances of the control routine  2540  and/or instances of various components of the control routine  2540 ), and/or reallocating the manner in which such resources are used to support the maintenance of federated areas  2566 . 
     In some of such embodiments, such reallocations of resources may occur as part of effecting an organized failover between federated devices  2500  and/or between storage devices  2600 . By way of example, received indications of failure of components and/or other features of a federated device  2500 , and/or received indications of a federated device  2500  becoming unavailable as part of being serviced, may trigger the transfer of the performance of operations in support of performing tasks and/or of performing whole job flows from that federated device  2500  to one or more other federated devices  2500 . Also by way of example, received indications of failure of components and/or other features of a storage device  2600 , and/or received indications of a storage device  2600  becoming unavailable as part of being serviced, may trigger the transfer of federated areas  2566  from that storage device  2600  to one or more other storage devices  2600 . In support of effecting such organized failovers, execution of the device allocation component  2519  may cause the maintenance of a federated device  2500  and/or of a storage device  2600  in a “standby” mode to be readily available for use as a “hot spare” with minimal delay. 
     In some embodiments, as part of such ongoing and recurring receipt of status information from devices  2500  and/or  2600 , indications of such received status may be stored and repeatedly updated within a device data  2531 . Also stored within the device data  2531  may be indications of predefined minimum requirements for a device  2500  or  2600  to be deemed available, and/or indications of predefined minimum levels of availability of various resources provided by devices  2500  and/or  2600  that are deemed to be minimum requirements to enable the execution of various routines and/or the performance of various functions. It may be that, as a level of availability of a particular resource provided by a device  2500  or  2600  falls below such a predefined minimum level of availability, the execution of one or more particular routines and/or the performance of one or more particular functions may be reallocated to a different device  2500  or  2600 . By way of example, where the level of unused storage space provided by a storage device  2600  is detected as having fallen below a predefined amount of storage space, one or more federated areas  2566  that are maintained therein may be reallocated to available storage space within another storage device  2600 . 
     Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, execution of the VM allocation component  2511  by processor(s)  2550  may cause ongoing selective instantiation, monitoring and/or control of VMs  2505  within one or more federated devices  2500 . As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, the instantiation of VMs within a computing device may be performed as a mechanism to allocated controlled amounts of resources of that computing device for use in the execution of various different routines to perform various different functions. By way of example, it may be deemed to be desirable to constrain the levels of resources that are made available to support the performance of particular tasks. Alternatively or additionally, it may be that multiple ones of the VMs  2505  are instantiated within a federated device  2500  as part of providing security between different users (or between different groups of users) by allocating a separate VM  2505  to each user (or group of users). Also alternatively or additionally, there may be different types of VMs  2505  that are each provided with a different set of resources and/or are provided with resources at differing levels in a manner that causes each type of VM  2505  to be at least somewhat specialized for supporting the execution of a different routine or different combination of routines. By way of example, there may be different types of VM  2505  that are each configured to support the execution of different ones of the components of the control routine  2540  therein. 
     In some embodiments, the selective instantiation of VMs  2505  across multiple federated devices  2500  may be employed as the mechanism by which the earlier described reallocation of federated devices  2500  and/or of the resources of federated devices  2500  in response to failures, instances of unavailability for servicing, and/or instances of a falling level of availability of a resource below a predefined minimum level. Stated differently, the transfer of performances of various operations may be effected by the transfer of VM(s)  2505  between federated devices  2500 , and/or the transfer of sufficient state information between VMs  2505  within different federated devices  2500 . In some embodiments, execution of the VM allocation component  2511  may cause the ongoing and recurring receipt (e.g., via the network  2999 ) of indications of status of VMs  2505  from federated devices  2500  in which they are instantiated. As with the statuses of devices  2500  and/or  2600 , the statuses of VMs  2505  may be maintained and repeated updated within the device data  2531 . 
     As an alternative to reallocation of resources through selective instantiation of VMs  2505  (such that performances of various operations may be transferred from a VM  2505  instantiated within one federated device  2500  to another VM  2505  instantiated within another federated device  2500 ), it may be that the level(s) of various resources allocated to different VMs  2505  within a federated device  2500  may be dynamically altered. In this way, limitations in the levels of resources consumed by each VM  2505  may be enforced onto each VM  2505  to accommodate fluctuations in levels of available resources that are caused by other factors. 
     Regardless of the exact manner in which the resources of each device  2500  and/or  2600  may be allocated by components of the control routine  2510 , regardless of the exact manner in which VMs  2505  may be allocated, regardless of the exact manner in which resources may be allocated to each VM  2505 , and as will be explained in greater detail, indications maintained within the device data  2531  concerning availability of resources, devices  2500  and/or  2600 , and/or VMs  2505  may be used as input to still other mechanisms for the allocation of resources to support the parallel performances of tasks and job flows as part of providing MTC. More specifically, and as will be discussed in greater detail, mechanisms for the dynamic instantiation of container execution environments may employ such information in determining quantities and/or types of containers to be selectively instantiated and/or in determining which device  2500  in which such containers are to be selectively instantiated. Alternatively or additionally, and as will also be explained in greater detail, information associated with such selective instantiation of such containers may be received by components of the control routine  2510  to provide guidance in the selective instantiation of VMs  2505 . 
     Turning to  FIGS.  14 F-H , in various embodiments, each of the one or more storage devices  2600  within the depicted set of storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z  may incorporate a processor  2650  and/or a storage  2660  coupled to the processor. In at least a subset of the storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z , the storage  2660  may store a nodal storage routine  2643 . Alternatively or additionally, in at least a subset of the storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z , the storage  2660  may store a master storage routine  2644 . Each of the nodal storage routine  2643  and the master storage routine  2644  may incorporate a sequence of instructions operative on the processor  2650  of each of the storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z  to implement logic to perform various functions. Each of the storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z  may be directly coupled to and/or otherwise interact with a single federated device  2560 . Alternatively, each of the storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z  may interact with multiple ones of the federated devices  2560  as a result of being shared thereamong. Although not specifically depicted, such sharing of the storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z  may be through the network  2999 . 
     Turning more specifically to  FIG.  14 F , in some embodiments, at least a subset of the storage devices  2600   a - x  may be operated by the one or more federated devices  2500  as individual storage devices  2600  where each is caused to store objects (e.g., the depicted objects  2220 ,  2270 ,  2330 ,  2370 ,  2440 ,  2470 ,  2720  and/or  2770 ) in an undivided manner such that none of such objects are stored in a distributed form that spans multiple ones of the storage devices  2600   a - x . As will be explained in greater detail, such storage of objects in an undivided manner may be limited to objects that are of a smaller size than a predetermined threshold storage size. In such embodiments, and as will also be explained in greater detail, it may be that each federated area  2566  is defined to exist entirely within a single one of the storage devices  2600   a - x . Within each such one of the storage devices  2600   a - x , the processor  2650  may be caused by its execution of the nodal storage routine  2643  to implement a local file system  2663  within at least a portion of the storage  2660  thereof, and may be caused to cooperate with the one or more federated devices  2560  to define one or more federated areas  2566  within such a portion of the storage  2660  that is occupied by the local file system  2663 . 
     Turning more specifically to  FIG.  14 G , in some embodiments, at least a subset of the storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z  may be operated together by the one or more federated devices  2500  to store at least data objects (e.g., the depicted data objects  2330 ,  2330   d ,  2370 ,  2370   d ,  2770  and/or  2770   d ) in a distributed manner such that each of such data objects is divided into data object blocks  2336 ,  2336   d ,  2370 ,  2376   d ,  2776  and/or  2776   d , respectively, which are distributed across multiple ones of such storage devices for storage for storage in a manner that spans multiple ones of the storage devices  2600   a - x . As previously discussed, such distributed storage of objects may be limited to those that are larger in size than the predetermined threshold storage size. In such embodiments, and as will be explained in greater detail, it may be that each federated area  2566  is defined to span multiple ones of the storage devices  2600   a - x.    
     Within the storage device  2600   z , the processor  2650  may be caused by its execution of the master storage routine  2644  to coordinate with such ones of the storage devices  2600   a - x  to implement a distributed file system  2664  that spans and encompasses at least a portion of the storage  2660  of each. Within each such one of the storage devices  2600   a - x , the processor  2650  may be caused by its execution of the nodal storage routine  2643  to cooperate with the storage device  2600   z  to implement a portion of the distributed file system  2664  within at least a portion of its storage  2660 . The processors  2650  of the storage device  2600   z  and of each of such ones of the storage devices  2600   a - x  may cooperate with the one or more federated devices  2500  to define one or more federated areas  2566  to span such portions of the storages  2660  within which the distributed file system  2664  is so implemented. 
     In some of such embodiments, the distributed file system  2664  that is so implemented may be HDFS, and it may be that the processor  2650  of the storage device  2600   z  is caused by the master storage routine  2644  to operate the storage device  2600   z  to serve as the “name server” for such an implementation of HDFS. It should be noted that, there may be more than one of the storage device  2600   z , and such additional storage device(s)  2006   z  may be maintained as additional name servers to enable the name server functions to be implemented more quickly and/or efficiently through the use of parallelism, and/or to serve as backup name server(s) to provide redundancy against failure in the performance of the name server functions. 
     As previously discussed, it may be that a relatively large data object  2330 ,  2370  or  2770  received by the one or more federated devices  2500  for storage is of a form that is not able to be divided to directly generate data object blocks in which the data items are organized in a homogeneous manner. Details of the non-homogeneous manner in which items of data may be organized within such a large data object  2330 ,  2370  or  2770  may be described in metadata  2338  that may be incorporated into the relatively large data object  2300 ,  2370  or  2770 . As also previously discussed, the one or more federated devices  2500  may address this issue by converting such a data object  2330 ,  2370  or  2770  from its originally received form and into a distributable form (e.g., as a corresponding one of the data object  2330   d ,  2370   d  or  2440   d ) in which the organization of the data items is changed into a homogeneous manner of organization that enables its division into data object blocks  2336   d ,  2376   d  or  2446   d , respectively, in which the data items are also organized in a homogeneous manner that makes the data items more readily accessible (e.g., without the need to refer to a distinct metadata structure, such as the depicted metadata  2338 ). 
     In embodiments in which at least a subset of the storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z  implement HDFS, it may be those storage devices within that subset that perform the division of a data object into blocks for storage. As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, implementing HDFS typically includes selecting a distribution block size that is used to determine whether an object that is to be stored will be divided into blocks, or not. Objects that are larger than the distribution block size will be divided into blocks that are each no larger than the distribution block size, while objects that are smaller than the threshold storage size are not so divided. Typical distribution block sizes that have been used in previous implementations of HDFS are 64 MB and 128 MB. The one or more federated devices  2500  may employ the same distribution block size as is used to implement HDFS among the storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z  as the predetermined threshold storage size used as at least one factor in determining whether or not to convert the form of a data block that is to be stored from the form in which it was originally received and a distributable form. 
     In some embodiments, the distribution block size may be associated with storage capacity limitations of one or more of the storage devices  2600 . By way of example, the predetermined threshold storage size may be selected to trigger the dividing of large data objects that might actually be larger than the storage capacity of any one of the storage devices  2600 . In such embodiments, there may be an upper limit placed on the size of any data object based on the total capacity of a set of storage devices  2600  that are used together to store large data objects in a distributed manner, and such an upper limit may be selected to strike a balance between enabling storage of large data objects, while preventing the storage capacity from being consumed by the storage of a relatively small quantity of data objects. Alternatively, the predetermined threshold storage size may be selected to cause division of large data objects that are sufficiently large that there is an appreciable improvement possible in speed of access thereto by splitting them up into data object blocks that are distributed across multiple ones of the storage devices  2600 . In each of such other embodiments, there may be an upper limit placed on the size of any data object that may be based on the total storage capacity available in any one of the storage devices  2600 . 
     It should be noted that, although the distributed storage of large data objects that are either already in distributable form or that have been converted into distributable form is discussed herein, various circumstances may arise in which other large data objects that are not in distributable form may, nonetheless, also be stored in a distributed manner among multiple ones of the storage devices  2600   a - x . By way of example, it may be that the at least partially parallel performances of a job flow on the earlier stored data object blocks  2336   d ,  2376   d  or  2776   d  of the distributable form of the data object  2330   d ,  2370   d  or  2770   d , respectively, may result in the generation of corresponding data object blocks of another data set as an output of that job flow. Thus, as a result of such at least partially parallel performances of the job flow, a portion of the storage space provided within each of those storage devices  2600   a - x  for a portion of a federated area  2566  may be caused to store a new data object block  2336 ,  2376  or  2776  belonging to another data set  2330 ,  2370  or  2770 , respectively, that was not generated by dividing a distributable form of a data set  2330   d ,  2370   d  or  2770   d  that is provided by the one or more federated devices such that data items within each may not be organized in a homogeneous manner. Thus, as depicted, a federated area  2566  that spans multiple ones of the storage devices  2600   a - x  within the portions of storage space spanned by the distributed file system  2664  may store data object blocks  2336 ,  2376  and/or  2776  of data objects  2330 ,  2370  or  2770  that are not of distributable form alongside data object blocks  2336   d ,  2376   d  and/or  2776   d  of data object blocks  2330   d ,  2370   d  and/or  2770   d , respectively, that are of distributable form. 
     As will be explained in greater detail, the selection of which of multiple ones of the storage devices  2600  are used in performing a job flow may be at least partially determined by which of those multiple storage devices  2600  store a data object block of a data object that is to be used as an input in that performance. As will also be explained in greater detail, such generated and stored data object blocks  2336 ,  2376  and/or  2776  that are not of distributable form may be selectively combined (e.g., in a reduction operation) to generate a corresponding one of the data object  2330 ,  2370  or  2770  of undivided form. By way of example, where a result report  2770  that was originally generated as such data object blocks  2776  during a performance of a job flow is to be transmitted to a device that requested the performance (e.g., a source device  2100  or a reviewing device  2800 , those data object blocks  2776  may be so combined to generate an undivided form of the result report  2770  as part of enabling its transmittal to the requesting device. 
     Turning more specifically to  FIG.  14 H , although not specifically discussed or depicted in either of  FIG.  14 F or  14 G , embodiments of the distributed processing system  2000  are possible in which data objects  2330 ,  2370  and/or  2440  may be stored as a mixture of storage as undivided data objects and storage in a distributed manner. Again, the manner in which each data object  2330 ,  2370  and  2440  is stored may depend upon its size relative to a predetermined threshold storage size. More specifically, where a data object  2330 ,  2370  or  2440  is of a size that is smaller than the predetermined threshold size, that data object may be stored within a single one of the storage devices  2600  as a single undivided object. However, where a data object  2330 ,  2370  or  2440  is or a size that exceeds the predetermined threshold storage size, that data object may be converted from the form in which it was received and into a distributable form, and may then be stored in a distributed manner among multiple storage devices  2600  as multiple blocks  2336   d ,  2376   d  and/or  2770   d , respectively. 
     As also more specifically depicted in  FIG.  14 H , it may be that such storage of data objects  2330 ,  2370  and/or  2440  (either as undivided data objects and/or in a distributed manner as data object blocks) is across one or more federated devices  2500 , either in addition to or in lieu of such storage across one or more storage devices  2600 . In such embodiments, it may be the processor(s)  2550  of one or more other federated device(s)  2500  designated as  2500   a - x  that execute instructions of the nodal storage routine  2643  to perform operations associated with storing data objects and/or data object blocks, and/or it may be the processor(s)  2550  of one or more federated devices  2500  designated as  2500   z  that execute instructions of the master storage routine  2644  to perform operations to coordinate the storage of data objects in at least a distributed manner. 
       FIG.  15 A  illustrates a block diagram of another example embodiment of a distributed processing system  2000  also incorporating one or more source devices  2100 , one or more reviewing devices  2800 , one or more federated devices  2500  that may form the federated device grid  2005 , and/or one or more storage devices  2600  that may form the storage device grid  2006 .  FIG.  15 B  illustrates exchanges, through a network  2999 , of communications among the devices  2100 ,  2500 ,  2600  and/or  2800  associated with the controlled storage of and/or access to various objects within one or more federated areas  2566 . The example distributed processing system  2000  of  FIGS.  15 A-B  is substantially similar to the example processing system  2000  of  FIGS.  14 A-B , but features an alternate embodiment of the one or more federated devices  2500  providing an embodiment of the one or more federated areas  2566  within which job flows are not performed. Thus, while task routines  2440  may be executed by the one or more federated devices  2500  within each of the one or more federated areas  2566  in addition to storing objects within each of the one or more federated areas  2566  of  FIGS.  14 A-B , in  FIGS.  15 A-B , each of the one or more federated areas  2566  serves as a location in which objects may be stored, but within which no task routines  2440  are executed. 
     Instead, in the example distributed processing system  2000  of  FIGS.  15 A-B , the performance of job flows, including the execution of task routines  2440  of job flows, may be performed by the one or more source devices  2100  and/or by the one or more reviewing devices  2800 . Thus, as best depicted in  FIG.  15 B , the one or more source devices  2100  may be operated to interact with the one or more federated devices  2500  to more simply store a variety of objects associated with the performance of a job flow within the one or more source devices  2100 . More specifically, one of the source devices  2100  may be operated to store, in a federated area  2566 , a result report  2770  and/or an instance log  2720  associated with a performance of a job flow defined by a job flow definition  2220 , in addition to also being operated to store the job flow definition  2220 , along with the associated task routines  2440  and any associated data sets  2330  in a federated area  2566 . Additionally, such a one of the source devices  2100  may also store any DAGs  2270  and/or macros  2470  that may be associated with those task routines  2440 . As a result, each of the one or more federated areas  2566  is employed to store a record of performances of job flows that occur externally thereof. 
     Correspondingly, as part of a review of a performance of a job flow, the one or more reviewing devices  2800  may be operated to retrieve the job flow definition  2220  of the job flow, along with the associated task routines  2440  and any associated data sets  2330  from a federated area  2566 , in addition to retrieving the corresponding result report  2770  generated by the performance and/or the instance log  2720  detailing aspects of the performance. With such a more complete set of the objects associated with the performance retrieved from one or more federated areas  2566 , the one or more reviewing devices  2800  may then be operated to independently repeat the performance earlier carried out by the one or more source devices  2100 . Following such an independent performance, a new result report  2870  generated by the independent performance may then be compared to the retrieved result report  2770  as part of reviewing the outputs of the earlier performance. Where macros  2470  and/or DAGs  2270  associated with the associated task routines  2440  are available, the one or more reviewing devices  2800  may also be operated to retrieve them for use in analyzing any discrepancies revealed by such an independent performance. 
     Referring back to all of  FIGS.  14 A-B  and  15 A-B, the role of generating objects and the role of reviewing the use of those objects in a past performance have been presented and discussed as involving separate and distinct devices, specifically, the source devices  2100  and the reviewing devices  2800 , respectively. However, it should be noted that other embodiments are possible in which the same one or more devices may be employed in both roles such that at least a subset of the one or more source devices  2100  and the one or more reviewing devices  2800  may be one and the same. 
       FIGS.  16 A,  16 B,  16 C,  16 D,  16 E,  16 F,  16 G,  16 H,  16 I,  16 J and  16 K , together, illustrate aspects of the provision of, and interactions among, multiple related federated areas  2566  by the one or more federated devices  2500 .  FIG.  16 A  depicts aspects of a linear hierarchy of federated areas  2566 ,  FIG.  16 B  depicts aspects of a hierarchical tree of federated areas  2566 , and  FIG.  16 C  depicts aspects of navigating among federated areas  2566  within the hierarchical tree of  FIG.  16 B .  FIGS.  16 A-C , together, also illustrate aspects of one or more relationships that may be put in place among federated areas  2566  that may control access to objects stored therein.  FIG.  16 D  illustrates aspects of selectively allowing users of one or more federated areas  2566  to exercise control over various aspects thereof.  FIG.  16 E  illustrates aspects of supporting the addition of new federated areas  2566  and/or new users of federated areas  2566 , using an example of building a set of related federated areas  2566  based on the example hierarchical tree of federated areas introduced in  FIGS.  16 B-C .  FIGS.  16 F-H , together, illustrate aspects of allocating portion(s) of one or more federated areas for one or more specialized functions.  FIGS.  16 I-K , together, illustrate various ways in which federated areas  2566  and/or their contents may be defined within storage space(s) provided by one or more storage devices  2600  and/or one or more federated devices  2500 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  16 A , presented as an example, a set of federated areas  2566   q ,  2566   u  and  2566   x  may be maintained within the storage(s)  2560  of the one or more federated devices  2500  and/or within the one or more storage devices  2600 . As also depicted, a linear hierarchy of degrees of restriction of access may be put in place among the federated areas  2566   q ,  2566   u  and  2566   x . More specifically, the federated area  2566   q  may be a private federated area subject to the greatest degree of restriction in access among the depicted federated areas  2566   q ,  2566   u  and  2566   x . In contrast, the base federated area  2566   x  may a more “public” federated area to the extent that it may be subject to the least restricted degree of access among the depicted federated areas  2566   q ,  2566   u  and  2566   x . Further, the intervening federated area  2566   u  may be subject to an intermediate degree of restriction in access ranging from almost as restrictive as the greater degree of restriction applied to the private federated area  2566   q  to almost as unrestrictive as the lesser degree of restriction applied to the base federated area  2566   x . Stated differently, the number of users granted access may be the largest for the base federated area  2566   x , may progressively decrease to an intermediate number of users for the intervening federated area  2566   u , and may progressively decrease further to a smallest number of users for the private federated area  2566   q.    
     There may be any of a variety of scenarios that serve as the basis for selecting the degrees of restriction of access to each of the federated areas  2566   q ,  2566   u  and  2566   x . By way of example, all three of these federated areas may be under the control of a user of the source device  2100   q  where such a user may desire to provide the base federated area  2566   x  as a storage location to which a relatively large number of other users may be granted access to make use of objects stored therein by the user of the source device  2100   q  and/or at which other users may store objects as a mechanism to provide objects to the user of the source device  2100   q . Such a user of the source device  2100   q  may also desire to provide the intervening federated area  2566   u  as a storage location to which a smaller number of selected other users may be granted access, where the user of the source device  2100   q  desires to exercise tighter control over the distribution of objects stored therein. Finally, such a user of the source device  2100   q  may desire to grant just themselves and/or an even more limited number of selected other users access to the private federated area  2566   q  where, perhaps, data objects containing private data, or job flow definitions  2220  and/or task routines  2440  that are not yet deemed ready to distribute more widely may be stored. 
     As a result of this hierarchical range of restrictions in access, a user of the depicted source device  2100   x  may be granted access to the base federated area  2566   x , but not to either of the other federated areas  2566   u  or  2566   q . A user of the depicted source device  2100   u  may be granted access to the intervening federated area  2566   u , and as depicted, such a user of the source device  2100   u  may also be granted access to the base federated area  2566   x , for which restrictions in access are less than that of the intervening federated area  2566   u . However, such a user of the source device  2100   u  may not be granted access to the private federated area  2566   q . In contrast, a user of the source device  2100   q  may be granted access to the private federated area  2566   q , and as depicted, may also be granted access to the intervening federated area  2566   u  and the base federated area  2566   x , both of which are subject to lesser access restrictions than the private federated area  2566   q.    
     As a result of the hierarchy of access restrictions just described, users granted access to the intervening federated area  2566   u  are granted access to objects  2220 ,  2270 ,  2330 ,  2370 ,  2440 ,  2470 ,  2720  and/or  2770  that may be stored within either of the intervening federated area  2566   u  or the base federated area  2566   x . To enable such users to request the performance of job flows using objects stored in either of these federated areas  2566   x  and  2566   u , an inheritance relationship may be put in place between the intervening federated area  2566   u  and the base federated area  2566   x  in which objects stored within the base federated area  2566   x  may be as readily available to be utilized in the performance of a job flow at the request of a user of the intervening federated area  2566   u  as objects that are stored within the intervening federated area  2566   u.    
     Similarly, also as a result of the hierarchy of access restrictions just described, the one or more users granted access to the private federated area  2566   q  are granted access to objects  2220 ,  2270 ,  2330 ,  2370 ,  2440 ,  2470 ,  2720  and/or  2770  that may be stored within any of the private federated area  2566   q , the intervening federated area  2566   u  or the base federated area  2566   x . Correspondingly, to enable such users to request the performance of job flows using objects stored in any of these federated areas  2566   x  and  2566   u , an inheritance relationship may be put in place among the private federated area  2566   q , the intervening federated area  2566   u  and the base federated area  2566   x  in which objects stored within the base federated area  2566   x  or the intervening federated area  2566   u  may be as readily available to be utilized in the performance of a job flow at the request of a user of the private federated area  2566   q  as objects that are stored within the private federated area  2566   q.    
     Such inheritance relationships among the federated areas  2566   q ,  2566   u  and  2566   x  may be deemed desirable to encourage efficiency in the storage of objects throughout by eliminating the need to store multiple copies of the same objects throughout multiple federated areas  2566  to make them accessible throughout a hierarchy thereof. More precisely, a task routine  2440  stored within the base federated area  2566   x  need not be copied into the private federated area  2566   q  to become available for use during the performance of a job flow requested by a user of the private federated area  2566   q  and defined by a job flow definition  2220  that may be stored within the private federated area  2566   q.    
     In some embodiments, such inheritance relationships may be accompanied by corresponding priority relationships to provide at least a default resolution to instances in which multiple versions of an object are stored in different ones of the federated areas  2566   q ,  2566   u  and  2566   x  such that one version thereof must be selected from among multiple federated areas for use in the performance of a job flow. By way of example, and as will be explained in greater detail, there may be multiple versions of a task routine  2440  that may be stored within a single federated area  2566  or across multiple federated areas  2566 . This situation may arise as a result of improvements being made to such a task routine  2440 , and/or for any of a variety of other reasons. Where a priority relationship is in place between at least the base federated area  2566   x  and the intervening federated area  2566   u , in addition to an inheritance relationship therebetween, and where there is a different version of a task routine  2440  within each of the federated areas  2566   u  and  2566   x  that may be used in the performance of a job flow requested by a user of the intervening federated area  2566   u  (e.g., through the source device  2100   u ), priority may be automatically given by the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  to using a version stored within the intervening federated area  2566   u  over using any version that may be stored within the base federated area  2566   x . Stated differently, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused to search within the intervening federated area  2566   u , first, for a version of such a task routine  2440 , and may use a version found therein if a version is found therein. The processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may then entirely forego searching within the base federated area  2566   x  for a version of such a task routine  2440 , unless no version of the task routine  2440  is found within the intervening federated area  2566   u.    
     Similarly, where a priority relationship is in place among all three of the federated areas  2566   x ,  2566   u  and  2566   q , in addition to an inheritance relationship thereamong, and where there is a different version of a task routine  2440  within each of the federated areas  2566   q ,  2566   u  and  2566   x  that may be used in the performance of task of a job flow requested by a user of the private federated area  2566   q  (e.g., through the source device  2100   q ), priority may be automatically given to using the version stored within the private federated area  2566   q  over using any version that may be stored within either the intervening federated area  2566   u  or the base federated area  2566   x . However, if no version of such a task routine  2440  is found within the private federated area  2566   q , then the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused to search next within the intervening federated area  2566   u  for a version of such a task routine  2440 , and may use a version found therein if a version is found therein. However, if no version of such a task routine  2440  is found within either the private federated area  2566   q  or the intervening federated area  2566   u , then the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused to search within the base federated area  2566   x  for a version of such a task routine  2440 , and may use a version found therein if a version is found therein. 
     In some embodiments, inheritance relationships may be accompanied by corresponding dependency relationships that may be put in place to ensure that all objects required to perform a job flow continue to be available. As will be explained in greater detail, for such purposes as enabling accountability and/or investigating errors in analyses, it may be deemed desirable to impose restrictions against actions that may be taken to delete (or otherwise make inaccessible) objects stored within a federated area  2566  that are needed to perform a job flow that is defined by a job flow definition  2220  within that same federated area  2566 . Correspondingly, where an inheritance relationship is put in place among multiple federated areas  2566 , it may be deemed desirable to put a corresponding dependency relationship in place in which similar restrictions are imposed against deleting (or otherwise making inaccessible) an object in one federated area  2566  that may be needed for the performance of a job flow defined by a job flow definition  2220  stored within another federated area  2566  that is related by way of an inheritance relationship put in place between the two federated areas  2566 . More specifically, where a job flow definition  2220  is stored within the intervening federated area  2566   u  that defines a job flow that requires a task routine  2440  stored within the base federated area  2566   x  (which is made accessible from within the intervening federated area  2566   u  as a result of an inheritance relationship with the base federated area  2566   x ), the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may not permit the task routine  2440  stored within the base federated area  2566   x  to be deleted. However, in some embodiments, such a restriction against deleting the task routine  2440  stored within the base federated area  2566   x  may cease to be imposed if the job flow definition  2220  that defines the job flow that requires that task routine  2440  is deleted, and there are no other job flow definitions  2220  stored elsewhere that also have such a dependency on that task routine  2440 . 
     Similarly, where a job flow definition  2220  is stored within the private federated area  2566   q  that defines a job flow that requires a task routine  2440  stored within either the intervening federated area  2566   u  or the base federated area  2566   x  (with which there may be an inheritance relationship), the processor(s) of the one or more federated devices  2500  may not permit that task routine  2440  to be deleted. However, such a restriction against deleting that task routine  2440  may cease to be imposed if the job flow definition  2220  that defines the job flow that requires that task routine  2440  is deleted, and there are no other job flow definitions  2220  stored elsewhere that also have such a dependency on that task routine  2440 . 
     In concert with the imposition of inheritance and/or priority relationships among a set of federated areas  2566 , the exact subset of federated areas  2566  to which a user is granted access may be used as a basis to automatically select a “perspective” from which job flows may be performed by the one or more federated devices  2500  at the request of that user. Stated differently, where a user requests the performance of a job flow, the retrieval of objects required for that performance may be based, at least by default, on what objects are available at the federated area  2566  among the one or more federated areas  2566  to which the user is granted access that has highest degree of access restriction. The determination of what objects are so available may take into account any inheritance and/or priority relationships that may be in place that include such a federated area  2566 . Thus, where a user granted access to the private federated area  2566   q  requests the performance of a job flow, the processor(s)  2550  of the federated devices  2500  may be caused to select the private federated area  2566   q  as the perspective on which determinations concerning which objects are available for use in that performance will be based, since the federated area  2566   q  is the federated area  2566  with the most restricted access that the user has been granted access to within the depicted linear hierarchy of federated areas  2566 . With the private federated area  2566   q  so selected as the perspective, any inheritance and/or priority relationships that may be in place between the private federated area  2566   q  and either of the intervening federated area  2566   u  or the base federated area  2566   x  may be taken into account in determining whether any objects stored within either are to be deemed available for use in that performance (which may be a necessity if there are any objects that are needed for that performance that are not stored within the private federated area  2566   q ). 
     Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, such an automatic selection of perspective may be used to select the storage space in which a performance takes place and/or in which objects associated with that performance may be stored. Stated differently, as part of maintaining the security that is intended to be provided through the imposition of a hierarchy of degrees of access restriction across multiple federated areas  2566 , a performance of a job flow requested by a user may, at least by default, be performed within the federated area that has the highest degree of access restriction among the one or more federated areas to which that user has been granted access. Thus, where a user granted access to the private federated area  2566   q  requests a performance of a job flow by the one or more federated devices  2500 , such a requested performance of that job flow may automatically be so performed by the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  within the storage space of the private federated area  2566   q . In this way, aspects of such a performance are kept out of reach from other users that have not been granted access to the private federated area  2566   q , including any objects that may be generated as a result of such a performance (e.g., mid-flow data sets  2370 , result reports  2770 , instance logs  2720 , etc.). Such a default selection of a federated area  2566  having more restricted access in which to perform a job flow may be based on a presumption that each user will prefer to have the job flow performances that they request being performed within the most secure federated area  2566  to which they have been granted access. 
     It should be noted that, although a relatively simple example linear hierarchy of just three federated areas is depicted in  FIG.  16 A  for sake of simplicity of depiction and discussion, other embodiments of a linear hierarchy are possible in which there may be multiple intervening federated areas  2566  of progressively changing degree of restriction in access between the base federated area  2566   x  and the private federated area  2566   q . Therefore, this depicted example quantity of just three federated areas should not be taken as limiting. 
     It should also be noted that, although just a single source device  2100  is depicted as having been granted access to each of the depicted federated areas  2566 , this has also been done for sake of simplicity of depiction and discussion, and other embodiments are possible in which access to one or more of the depicted federated areas  2566  may be granted to users of more than one device. More specifically, the manner in which restrictions in access to a federated area  2566  may be implemented may be in any of a variety of ways, including and not limited to, restricting access to one or more particular users (e.g., through use of passwords or other security credentials that are associated with particular persons and/or with particular organizations of people), and/or restricting access to one or more particular devices (e.g., through certificates or security credentials that are stored within one or more particular devices that may be designated for use in gaining access). 
     Turning to  FIG.  16 B , a larger set of federated areas  2566   m ,  2566   q ,  2566   r ,  2566   u  and  2566   x  may be maintained within the storage(s)  2560  of the one or more federated devices  2500  and/or within the one or more storage devices  2600 . As depicted, a tree-like hierarchy of degrees of restriction of access, similar to the hierarchy depicted in  FIG.  16 A , may be put in place among the federated areas  2566  within each of multiple branches and/or sub-branches of the depicted hierarchical tree. More specifically, each of the federated areas  2566   m ,  2566   q  and  2566   r  may be a private federated area subject to the highest degrees of restriction in access among the depicted federated areas  2566   m ,  2566   q ,  2566   r ,  2566   u  and  2566   x . Again, in contrast, the base federated area  2566   x  may be a more public federated area to the extent that it may be subject to the least restricted degree of access among the depicted federated areas  2566   m ,  2566   q ,  2566   r ,  2566   u  and  2566   x . Further, the intervening federated area  2566   u  interposed between the base federated area  2566   x  and each of the private federated areas  2566   q  and  2566   r  may be subject to an intermediate degree of restriction in access ranging from almost as restrictive as the degree of restriction applied to either of the private federated areas  2566   q  or  2566   r  to almost as unrestrictive as the degree of restriction applied to the base federated area  2566   x . Thus, as in the case of the linear hierarchy depicted in  FIG.  16 A , the number of users granted access may be the largest for the base federated area  2566   x , may progressively decrease to an intermediate number for the intervening federated area  2566   u , and may progressively decrease further to smaller numbers for each of the private federated areas  2566   m ,  2566   q  and  2566   r . Indeed, the hierarchical tree of federated areas  2566  of  FIG.  16 B  shares many of the characteristics concerning restrictions of access of the linear hierarchy of federated areas  2566  of  FIG.  16 A , such that the linear hierarchy of  FIG.  16 A  may be aptly described as a hierarchical tree without branches. 
     As a result of the depicted hierarchical range of restrictions in access, a user of the depicted source device  2100   x  may be granted access to the base federated area  2566   x , but not to any of the other federated areas  2566   m ,  2566   q ,  2566   r  or  2566   u . A user of the depicted source device  2100   u  may be granted access to the intervening federated area  2566   u , and may also be granted access to the base federated area  2566   x , for which restrictions in access are less than that of the intervening federated area  2566   u . However, such a user of the source device  2100   u  may not be granted access to any of the private federated areas  2566   m ,  2566   q  or  2566   r . In contrast, a user of the source device  2100   q  may be granted access to the private federated area  2566   q , and may also granted access to the intervening federated area  2566   u  and the base federated area  2566   x , both of which are subject to lesser restrictions in access than the private federated area  2566   q . A user of the source device  2100   r  may similarly be granted access to the private federated area  2566   r , and may similarly also be granted access to the intervening federated area  2566   u  and the base federated area  2566   x . Additionally, a user of the source device  2100   m  may be granted access to the private federated area  2566   m , and may also be granted access to the base federated area  2566   x . However, none of the users of the source devices  2100   m ,  2100   q  and  2100   r  may be granted access to the others of the private federated areas  2566   m ,  2566   q  and  2566   r.    
     As in the case of the linear hierarchy of  FIG.  16 A , within the depicted branch  2561   xm , one or more of inheritance, priority and/or dependency relationships may be put in place to enable objects stored within the base federated area  2566   x  to be accessible from the private federated area  2566   m  to the same degree as objects stored within the private federated area  2566   m . Similarly, within the depicted branch  2561   xqr , and within each of the depicted sub-branches  2561   uq  and  2561   ur , one or more of inheritance, priority and/or dependency relationships may be put in place to enable objects stored within either of the intervening federated area  2566   u  and the base federated area  2566   x  to be accessible from the private federated areas  2566   q  and  2566   r  to the same degree as objects stored within the private federated areas  2566   q  and  2566   r , respectively. 
     Turning to  FIG.  16 C , the same hierarchical tree of federated areas  2566   m ,  2566   q ,  2566   r ,  2566   u  and  2566   x  of  FIG.  16 B  is again depicted to illustrate an example of the use of human-readable forms of identification to enable a person to distinguish among multiple federated areas  2566 , and to navigate about the hierarchical tree toward a desired one of the depicted federated areas  2566   m ,  2566   q ,  2566   r ,  2566   u  or  2566   x . More specifically, each of the federated areas  2566   m ,  2566   q ,  2566   r ,  2566   u  and  2566   x  may be assigned a human-readable textual name such as the depicted textual names “mary”, “queen”, “roger”, “uncle” and “x-ray”, respectively. In some embodiments, each of these human-readable names may be stored and maintained as a human-readable federated area identifier  2568 , where the human-readable text of each such human-readable FA identifier  2568  may have any of a variety of meanings to the persons who assign and use them, including and not limited to, indications of who each of these federated areas  2566  belongs to, what the purpose of each of these federated areas  2566  is deemed to be, how each of these federated areas  2566  relates to the others functionally and/or in terms of location within the depicted tree, etc. 
     In this depicted example, these depicted human-readable FA identifiers  2568  have been created to also serve as part of a system of navigation in which a web browser of a remote device (e.g., one of the devices  2100  or  2800 ) may be used with standard web access techniques through the network  2999  to navigate about the depicted tree. More specifically, each of these human-readable FA identifiers  2568  may form at least part of a corresponding URL that may be structured to provide an indication of where its corresponding one of these federated areas  2566  is located within the hierarchical tree. By way of example, the URL of the base federated area  2566   x , which is located at the root of the tree, may include the name “x-ray” of the base federated area  2566   x , but not include any of the names assigned to any other of these federated areas. In contrast, each of the URLs of each of the private federated areas located at the leaves of the hierarchical tree may be formed, at least partially, as a concatenation of the names of the federated areas that are along the path from each such private federated area at a leaf location of the tree to the base federated area  2566   x  at the root of the tree. By way of example, the private federated area  2566   r  may be assigned a URL that includes the names of the private federated area  2566   r , the intervening federated area  2566   u  and the base federated area  2566   x , thereby providing an indication of the entire path from the leaf position of the private federated area  2566   r  within the tree to the root position of the base federated area  2566   x.    
     In some embodiments, either in lieu of the assignment of human-readable FA identifiers  2568 , or in addition to the assignment of human-readable FA identifiers  2568 , each federated area  2566  may alternatively or additionally be assigned a global federated area identifier  2569  (GUID) that is intended to be unique across all federated areas  2566  that may be instantiated around the world. In some of such embodiments, such uniqueness may be made at least highly likely by generating each such global FA identifier  2569  as a random number or other form of randomly generated set of bits with a relatively large bit width such that the possibility of two federated areas  2566  ever being assigned the same global FA identifier  2569  is deemed sufficiently small that each global FA identifiers  2569  is deemed, for all practical purposes, to be unique across the entire world. Such practically unique global FA identifiers  2569  may be so generated and assigned to each federated area  2566  in addition to the human-readable FA identifiers  2568  to provide a mechanism by which each federated area  2566  will always remain uniquely distinguishable from all others, regardless of any situation that may arise where two or more federated areas  2566  are somehow given identical human-readable FA identifiers  2568 . 
     It should be noted that, unlike the human-readable FA identifiers  2568  that may be manually entered and assigned by an operator of another device (e.g., one of the devices  2100  or  2800 ) that may be in communication with the one or more federated devices  2500  via the network  2999 , the global FA identifiers  2569  may be automatically generated by the one or more federated devices  2500  as part of the instantiation of any new federated area  2566 . Such automatic generation of the global FA identifiers  2569  as part of instantiating any new federated area  2566  may be deemed desirable to ensure that such practically unique identification functionality is provided for each federated area  2566  from the very moment that it exists. This may also be deemed desirable to provide some degree of continuity in the unique identification of each federated area  2566  throughout the time it exists, since in some embodiments, the human-readable FA identifiers  2568  may be permitted to be changed throughout the time it exists. 
     Turning to  FIG.  16 D , the control routine  2540  executed by processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may include a federated area component  2546  to control the instantiation of, maintenance of, relationships among, and/or un-instantiation of federated areas  2566  within the storage  2560  of one or more federated devices  2500  and/or within one or more of the storage devices  2600 . The control routine  2540  may also include a portal component  2549  to restrict access to the one or more federated areas  2566  to only authorized users (e.g., authorized persons, entities and/or devices), and may restrict the types of accesses made to only the federated area(s)  2566  for which each user and/or each device is authorized. However, in alternate embodiments, control of access to the one or more federated areas  2566  may be provided by one or more other devices that may be interposed between the one or more federated devices  2500  and the network  2999 , or that may be interposed between the one or more federated devices  2500  and the one or more storage devices  2600  (if present), or that may still otherwise cooperate with the one or more federated devices  2500  to do so. 
     In executing the portal component  2549 , the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused to operate one or more of the network interfaces  2590  to provide a portal accessible by other devices via the network  2999  (e.g., the source devices  2100  and/or the reviewing devices  2800 ), and through which access may be granted to the one or more federated areas  2566 . In some embodiments in which the one or more federated devices  2500  additionally serve to control access to the one or more federated areas  2566 , the portal may be implemented employing the hypertext transfer protocol over secure sockets layer (HTTPS) to provide a website securely accessible from other devices via the network  2999 . Such a website may include a webpage generated by the processor  2550  that requires the provision of a password and/or other security credentials to gain access to the one or more federated areas  2566 . Such a website may be configured for interaction with other devices via an implementation of representational state transfer (REST or RESTful) application programming interface (API). However, other embodiments are possible in which the processor  2550  may provide a portal accessible via the network  2999  that is implemented in any of a variety of other ways using any of a variety of handshake mechanisms and/or protocols to selectively provide secure access to the one or more federated areas  2566 . 
     Regardless of the exact manner in which a portal may be implemented and/or what protocol(s) may be used, in determining whether to grant or deny access to the one or more federated areas  2566  to another device from which a request for access has been received, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused to refer to indications stored within portal data  2539  of users authorized to be granted access. Such indications may include indications of security credentials expected to be provided by such persons, entities and/or machines. In some embodiments, such indications within the portal data  2539  may be organized into a database of accounts that are each associated with an entity with which particular persons and/or devices may be associated. The processor(s)  2550  may be caused to employ the portal data  2539  to evaluate security credentials received in association with a request for access to the at least one of the one or more federated areas  2566 , and may operate a network interface  2590  of one of the one or more federated devices  2500  to transmit an indication of grant or denial of access to the at least one requested federated area  2566  depending on whether the processor(s)  2550  determine that access is to be granted. 
     Beyond selective granting of access to the one or more federated areas  2566  (in embodiments in which the one or more federated devices  2500  control access thereto), the processor(s)  2550  may be further caused by execution of the portal component  2549  to restrict the types of access granted, depending on the identity of the user to which access has been granted. By way of example, the portal data  2539  may indicate that different users are each to be allowed to have different degrees of control over different aspects of one or more federated areas  2566 . A user may be granted a relatively high degree of control such that they are able to create and/or remove one or more federated areas  2566 , are able to specify which federated areas  2566  may be included in a set of federated areas, and/or are able to specify aspects of relationships among one or more federated areas  2566  within a set of federated areas. Alternatively or additionally, a user may be granted a somewhat more limited degree of control such that they are able to alter the access restrictions applied to one or more federated areas  2566  such that they may be able to control which users have access each of such one or more federated areas  2566 . 
     The processor(s)  2550  may be caused by execution of the portal component  2549  to store indications of such changes concerning which users have access to which federated areas  2566  and/or the restrictions applied to such access as part of the portal data  2539 , where such indications may take the form of sets of correlations of authorized users to federated areas  2566  and/or correlations of federated areas  2566  to authorized users. In such indications of such correlations, either or both of the human-readable FA identifiers  2568  or the global FA identifiers  2569  may be used. Where requests to add, remove and/or alter one or more federated areas  2566  are determined, through execution of the portal component  2549  to be authorized, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by execution of the federated area component  2546  to carry out such requests. 
       FIG.  16 E  depicts an example of a series of actions that the processor(s)  2550  are caused to take in response to the receipt of a series of requests to add federated areas  2566  that eventually results in the creation of the tree of federated areas  2566  depicted in  FIGS.  16 B-C . As depicted, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may initially be caused to instantiate and maintain both the private federated area  2566   m  and the base federated area  2566   x  as part of a set of related federated areas that form a linear hierarchy of degrees of access restriction therebetween. In some embodiments, the depicted pair of federated areas  2566   m  and  2566   x  may have been caused to be generated by a user of the source device  2100   m  having sufficient access permissions (as determined via the portal component  2549 ) as to be able to create the private federated area  2566   m  for private storage of one or more objects that are meant to be accessible by a relatively small number of users, and to create the related public federated area  2566   x  for storage of objects meant to be made more widely available through the granting of access to the base federated area  2566   x  to a larger number of users. Such access permissions may also include the granted ability to specify what relationships may be put in place between the federated areas  2566   m  and  2566   x , including and not limited to, any inheritance, priority and/or dependency relationships therebetween. Such characteristics about each of the federated areas  2566   m  and  2566   x  may be caused to be stored by the federated area component  2546  as part of the federated area parameters  2536 . As depicted, the federated area parameters  2536  may include a database of information concerning each federated area  2566  that is caused to be instantiated and/or maintained by the federated area component  2546 . As with the database of accounts just earlier described as being implemented in some embodiments within the portal data  2539 , such a database of information concerning federated areas  2566  within the federated area parameters  2536  may also make use of either or both of the human-readable FA identifiers  2568  or the global FA identifiers  2569  to identify each federated area  2566 . 
     As an alternative to both of the federated areas  2566   m  and  2566   x  having been created and caused to be related to each other through express requests by a user, in other embodiments, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused by the federated area component  2546 , and based on rules retrieved from federated area parameters  2536 , to automatically create and configure the private federated area  2566   m  in response to a request to add a user associated with the source device  2100   m  to the users permitted to access the base federated area  2566   x . More specifically, a user of the depicted source device  2100   x  that may have access permissions to control various aspects of the base federated area  2566   x  may operate the source device  2100   x  to transmit a request to the one or more federated devices  2500 , via the portal provided thereby on the network  2999 , to grant a user associated with the source device  2100   m  access to use the base federated area  2566   x . In response, and in addition to so granting the user of the source device  2100   m  access to the base federated area  2566   x , the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may automatically generate the private federated area  2566   m  for private use by the user of the source device  2100   m . Such automatic operations may be triggered by an indication stored in the federated area database within the federated area parameters  2536  that each user that is newly granted access to the base federated area  2566   x  is to be so provided with their own private federated area  2566 . This may be deemed desirable as an approach to making the base federated area  2566   x  easier to use for each such user by providing individual private federate areas  2566  within which objects may be privately stored and/or developed in preparation for subsequent release into the base federated area  2566   x . Such users may be able to store private sets of various tools that each may use in such development efforts. 
     Following the creation of both the federated areas  2566   x  and  2566   m , the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused to instantiate and maintain the private federated area  2566   q  to be part of the set of federated areas  2566   m  and  2566   x . In so doing, the private federated area  2566   q  is added to the set in a manner that converts what was a linear hierarchy into a hierarchical tree with a pair of branches. As with the instantiation of the private federated area  2566   m , the instantiation of the private federated area  2566   q  may also be performed by the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  as an automated response to the addition of a user of the depicted source device  2100   q  as authorized to access the base federated area  2566   x . Alternatively, a user with access permissions to control aspects of the base federated area  2566   x  may operate the source device  2100   x  to transmit a request to the portal generated by the one or more federated devices  2500  to create the private federated area  2566   q , with inheritance, priority and/or dependency relationships with the base federated area  2566   x , and with access that may be limited (at least initially) to the user of the source device  2100   q.    
     Following the addition of the federated area  2566   q , the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused to first, instantiate the intervening federated area  2566   u  inserted between the private federated area  2566   q  and the base federated area  2566   x , and then instantiate the private federated area  2566   r  that branches from the newly created intervening federated area  2566   u . In so doing, the second branch that was created with the addition of the private federated area  2566   q  is expanded into a larger branch that includes both of the private federated areas  2566   q  and  2566   r  in separate sub-branches. 
     In various embodiments, the insertion of the intervening federated area  2566   u  may be initiated in a request transmitted to the portal from either the user of the source device  2100   q  or the user of the source device  2100   x , depending on which user has sufficient access permissions to be permitted to make such a change in the relationship between the private federated area  2566   q  and the base federated area  2566   x , including the instantiation and insertion of the intervening federated area  2566   u  therebetween. In some embodiments, it may be necessary for such a request made by one of such users to be approved by the other before the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may proceed to act upon it. 
     Such a series of additions to a hierarchical tree may be prompted by any of a variety of circumstances, including and not limited to, a desire to create an isolated group of private federated areas that are all within a single isolated branch that includes an intervening federated area by which users associated with each of the private federated areas within such a group may be able to share objects without those objects being more widely shared outside the group as by being stored within the base federated area  2566   x . Such a group of users may include a group of collaborating developers of task routines  2440 , data sets  2330  and/or job flow definitions  2220 . 
     As each of the federated areas  2566   m ,  2566   q ,  2566   r ,  2566   u  and  2566   x  are created, each may be given a human-readable FA identifier  2568  that may be supplied in the requests that are received to create each of them and/or that may be supplied and/or generated in any of a variety of other ways, including through any of a variety of user interfaces. Also, as previously discussed, regardless of the manner or circumstances in which each of the depicted federated areas  2566   m ,  2566   q ,  2566   r ,  2566   u  or  2566   x  is instantiated, in at least some embodiments, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused to generate a global FA identifier  2569  for each of these federated areas automatically as part of each of their instantiations. Again, this may be deemed desirable in order to have each of these federated areas be immediately distinguishable by such a practically unique identifier from the moment that each begins its existence. In this way, such global FA identifiers  2569  may be immediately available to be used to identify each of these federated areas within both the federated area parameters  2536  and the portal data  2539 . 
       FIG.  16 F  depicts various examples of designating at least a portion of a federated area  2566  as a storage location that serves a specialized purpose. As depicted, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused to instantiate different ones of these depicted examples of a portion of a federated area  2566  by the execution of the executable instructions of different components of the control routine  2540 , and/or by the execution of a resource allocation routine  2411 . As also depicted, such designated portions of a federated area  2566  may also be caused to co-exist with another portion of the federated area  2566  that may not be so designated, and which may be used simply for the storage of objects  2220 ,  2270 ,  2330 ,  2370 ,  2440 ,  2470 ,  2720  and/or  2770 , and/or used for the storage of data object blocks  2336 ,  2336   d ,  2376 ,  2376   d ,  2776  and/or  2776   d  that each form a portion of a data object  2330 ,  2330   d ,  2370 ,  2370   d ,  2770  and/or  2770   d , respectively. 
     As has already been discussed, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused by execution of the federated area component  2546  to instantiate a transfer area  2666  within a federated area  2566  as part of providing a mechanism by which the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by execution of one or more of the admission component  2542 , the selection component  2543  and/or the database component  2545  to exchange objects between the one or more federated devices  2500  and other devices. Again, such transfers may be triggered as part of synchronizing the contents of the transfer area  2666  with the contents of a corresponding transfer area within another device (e.g., the transfer area  2166  or  2866  instantiated within another device  2100  or  2800 , respectively, depicted in  FIG.  14 D ). Again, by way of example, where such transfer areas  2666  may be instantiated to implement synchronization of objects where another device that does not implement federated areas  2566  is, nonetheless, used as a source code repository (e.g., a device functioning as a GitHub™ source code server) in a situation where cooperation in source code development is underway between developers. 
     As will be discussed in greater detail, the processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  may be caused to instantiate shared memory space(s)  2665  to improve various aspects of storing, retrieving and/or exchanging data objects that are in a form associated with a secondary programming language that is not the primary programming language that is deemed to be the default programming language in which task routines  2440  are to be written. As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, different programming languages may support differing data types, and/or differing approaches to accessing, organizing and/or indexing data items within arrays and/or other complex data types. Further, even where two programming languages at least nominally support a common data type, there may well be differences in structural details therebetween. 
     By way of example, although two programming languages may both support the use of some form of two-dimensional (2D) array, it may be that they support different varieties of data types for the individual data values within a 2D array, different indexing schemes (e.g., 16-bit indexes vs. 32-bit indexes, or 0-based indexing vs. 1-based indexing), different byte encodings (e.g., little Endian vs. big Endian), different organizations of elements (e.g., row-column vs. column-row, highest-numbered row first vs. lowest-numbered row first, or structured vs. unstructured), different separators (e.g., commas vs. empty spaces to separate data items or rows of data items), different organizations of row and/or column headings, different text encodings (e.g., ASCII vs. EBCDIC vs. double-byte character set encoding), etc. As a result, relatively minor differences in the definitions of such structures as 2D arrays between two programming languages may prevent a 2D array generated with executable instructions in one programming language from being read, as is, by executable instructions in another programming language. This may cause data objects  2330 ,  2370  and/or  2770  that are output by one task routine  2440  with executable instructions  2447  written in one programming language to be unusable as input to another task routine  2440  with executable instructions  2447  written in another programming language without some degree of conversion being performed to cause such data objects to be changed from one form associated with the one programming language to another form associated with the other programming language. 
     Also, it may be that the designation of a particular programming language as the primary programming language may necessarily result in the corresponding adoption of various characteristics of the manner in which that primary programming language represents, stores and/or accesses data that may be unique to that primary programming language. As a result, various characteristics of the data objects  2330 ,  2370  and/or  2770  that may be persistently stored within federated area(s)  2566  may be dictated by which programming language is designated to be the primary programming language. This may make the form in which data objects  2330 ,  2370  and/or  2770  may be stored within the federated area(s)  2566  incompatible with task routines  2440  that are not written in the primary programming language, unless some degree of conversion is performed to change such data objects between the form associated with the primary programming language and a different form associated with a secondary programming language. 
     Unfortunately, and as will also be familiar to those skilled in the art, the performance of such conversions can consume considerable processing and/or storage resources, especially with larger data objects, such as larger array data structures. By way of example, one type of conversion that may need to be performed between two such forms of a data object may be serialization or de-serialization. More specifically, it may be that the primary programming language in which the executable instructions  2447  of some of the task routines  2440  are written is one that supports data objects that are persisted to federated area(s)  2566  as structured data arrays (e.g., the SAS programming language), while in contrast, the executable instructions  2447  of others of the task routines  2440  are written in a secondary language that supports data objects that take an unstructured form such as a list of comma-separated values (CSVs) that is not stored within federated areas  2566  (e.g., a NumPy array for use with Python™). 
     Therefore, and as will also be discussed in greater detail, to support the exchange of data object(s) between two task routines  2440  written in different programming languages, processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  may be caused by execution of the performance component  2544  to instantiate a shared memory space  2665  to better enable the performance of conversions on those data object(s). More specifically, where task routines  2440  written in different languages must exchange data object(s), a shared memory space  2665  may be temporarily instantiated to provide a temporary storage location in which serialization, de-serialization and/or other types of conversion may be performed with data object(s) to enable such an exchange therebetween. 
     Alternatively or additionally, and as will also be discussed in greater detail, to support a more efficient exchange of data objects between two task routines  2440  written in the same secondary programming language, processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused by execution of the performance component  2544  to instantiate a shared memory space  2665 . More specifically, where two task routines  2440  are both written in a secondary programming language associated with data object forms that are not accepted for persistent storage in federated area(s)  2566 , a shared memory space  2665  may be temporarily instantiated to provide a mechanism for a more direct exchange of such data objects exchanged therebetween. This avoids a situation in which an object output by one of the task routines  2440  in a form associated with the secondary programming language is first converted into a form associated with the primary programming language for persistent storage within a federated area  2566 , only to then be converted back into its original form associated with the secondary programming language to enable its use as an input to the other of the task routines  2440 . In addition to enabling such a more direct exchange of the data object, in some embodiments, the data object may still be converted to a form associated with the primary programming language for persistent storage within a federated area  2566 , but that conversion may be performed at least partially in parallel with the more direct exchange of the data object in its original form through the shared memory space  2665 . 
     As will be discussed in greater detail, the processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  may be caused by execution of the federated area component  2546  to instantiate a container  2565  within a federated area  2566  within each of multiple storage devices  2600  as a mechanism to provide, to each of those multiple storage devices  2600 , objects and/or components of the control routine  2540  (e.g., the depicted instance of the performance component  2544 ) that are needed to enable the processor(s)  2650  of those multiple storage devices  2600  to perform a job flow. As has been discussed, it may be that a data object is sufficiently large that it is stored in a distributed manner in a federated area  2566  that spans the storage spaces provided by multiple ones of the storage devices  2600 . Indeed, the size of such a data object may cause the transmission of it into the federated device(s)  2500  from such multiple storage devices  2600  to be at least undesirable, if not prohibitively difficult. It may, therefore, be deemed more desirable to use the processing resources of those multiple storage devices  2600  to execute the task routine(s)  2440  that require such a large data object as an input, while allowing that data object to remain effectively where it already is within those multiple storage devices  2600 . Thus, multiple copies of such a container  2565  may be distributed among those multiple storage devices  2600  as a mechanism to temporarily provide the much smaller task routine(s)  2440  that are to be so executed, along with other object(s) and/or other routines that may be needed (e.g., the depicted instance of the performance component  2544 ). 
     Alternatively or additionally, and as will also be discussed in greater detail, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused by execution of the performance component  2544  to temporarily instantiate a container  2565  within a federated area  2566  to enable the processor(s)  2550  to monitor and/or verify the input and/or output operations that are caused to be performed as a result of the execution of a particular task routine  2440 . Such temporary instantiation of a container  2565  may be used in a development or diagnostic situation in which debugging, testing and/or verification of the functionality of a newly written task routine  2440  is underway. 
     Also alternatively or additionally, and as will also be discussed in greater detail, in some embodiments, it may be that such containers  2565  are routinely instantiated to separately support the execution of each task routine  2440  during the performance of every job flow as part of a system of managing the allocation of processing and/or storage resources of the federated device(s)  2500 . More specifically, as a result of execution of a resource allocation routine  2411 , it may be that a set of pods  2661  are instantiated with portions of the processing and storage resources of one or more of the federated devices  2500  allocated to each. Among such a set of pods  2661  may be a subset of pods  2661  within which at least one container  2565  may be instantiated to provide an execution environment in which a single instance of a task routine  2440  is executed to perform a single task of a job flow. Within other(s) of the pods  2661 , at least one container  2565  may be instantiated to provide execution environment(s) in which instances of other routines may be executed to support the execution of the task routines  2440  as part of supporting the performance of the job flow (e.g., the performance component  2544  or the portal component  2549 , as depicted). 
     As depicted, in some embodiments in which such a set of pods  2661  is so instantiated, it may be that shared memory spaces  2565  are instantiated within one or more of the pods  2661  in which task routines  2440  may be so executed. As explained just above such shared memory spaces  2565  may be used to support the conversions of data objects between forms associated with different programming languages, and/or such shared memory spaces may be used to enable a more efficient exchange of data objects between task routines  2440  written in the same secondary programming language. 
     In keeping with the earlier discussion of “perspective” in reference to  FIG.  16 A , it should be noted that, although pod(s)  2661 , container(s)  2565  and/or shared memory space(s)  2665  are depicted and discussed as being instantiated within federated area(s)  2566 , other embodiments are possible in which one or more of these may be instantiated outside of any federated area  2566 . As will be described in greater detail, this may arise as a result of it being deemed desirable to have the flexibility to dynamically instantiate pod(s)  2661 , container(s)  2565  and/or shared memory space(s)  2665  within storage space that is available within any one of multiple federated device(s)  2500  and/or storage device(s)  2600  at which speedier access can be provided to particular processor(s), to particular data objects (e.g., particularly large data objects that may be deemed undesirable to exchange between devices), and/or to other particular resources that may be available within a limited subset of federated device(s)  2500  and/or storage device(s)  2600 . 
     As will also be explained in greater detail, the choice of device and/or the choice of a particular storage space within which to instantiate one or more of pod(s)  2661 , container(s)  2565  and/or shared memory space(s)  2665  may be associated with designations of “types” of tasks to be performed where the “type” of a task is, to at least some degree, correlated to one or more of: using particular processing resources (e.g., GPUs able to perform relatively simple operations in a highly parallelized manner, or neuromorphic devices able to implement neural networks in hardware); using particular storage resources (e.g., distributed storage capable of storing very large data objects as a set of blocks that are amenable to being processed in parallel); supporting differing programming languages (e.g., one or more programming languages other than a primary programming language that may be selected as the default programming language); requiring access to particular data objects (e.g., data objects to which access is restricted by license and/or by law, such as personal medical information); performing tasks with multiple blocks of a very large data object in parallel across multiple devices and/or across multiple VMs; and/or still other resources that may be available within just a subset of devices and/or VMs. 
       FIG.  16 G  depicts an example of designating at least a portion of each of multiple federated areas  2566  as a transfer area  2666 . In some embodiments, and as previously discussed in reference to  FIG.  14 D , such multiple transfer areas  2666  may be defined to enable the automated exchange, through synchronization, of the objects between those multiple transfer areas  2666  and counterpart transfer areas  2166  or  2866  defined within a storage  2160  or  2860  of another device  2100  or  2800 , respectively, as an approach to sharing a set of objects that are distributed across a hierarchy of federated areas  2566 . Again, such embodiments may be deemed desirable as a mechanism to enable a collaboration on the development of a relatively complex analysis routine between developers who are familiar with federated areas  2566  and the programming language(s) that may be associated therewith and other developers who are not familiar with federated areas  2566  and/or with those programming language(s). 
     However, either alternatively or additionally, in other embodiments, the definition of multiple transfer areas  2666 , one each in a different federated area  2566 , may be used to enable the automated transfer of specific objects from one federated area  2566  to another in response to specific conditions having been met. Such embodiments may be deemed desirable as an approach to automating the development of at least a portion of an analysis routine by causing the automated transfer of portions thereof from a federated area  2566  associated with one phase of development thereof to another as various thresholds of development, testing, accuracy, etc. are met. 
       FIG.  16 H  depicts an example embodiment of a synchronization relationship having been put in place between a set of transfer areas  2666  defined within a corresponding set of federated areas  2566 , and a set of transfer areas  2166  or  2866  defined within a storage  2160  or  2860 , of a device  2100  or  2800 , respectively. More specifically,  FIG.  16 H  depicts a multitude of synchronization relationships involving a triplet of transfer areas  2666   q ,  2666   u  and  2666   x  defined within the triplet of federated areas  2566   q ,  2566   u  and  2566   x , respectively, of the example linear hierarchy of federated  2666  introduced in  FIG.  16 A , and involving a corresponding triplet of transfer areas  2166   q / 2866   q ,  2166   u / 2866   u  and  2166   x / 2866   x  defined within a storage  2160  or  2860  of a device  2100  or  2800 , respectively. 
     As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, in the development of a relatively complex analysis routine, it may be deemed desirable to organize the numerous portions of executable instructions and/or other supporting portions thereof into a set hierarchy of directories and/or subdirectories that reflect distinct portions of the analysis routine that may be the responsibility of different groups of developers (e.g., a user interface group, a file management group, a core analysis group, etc.). In some embodiments, it may be that the hierarchical arrangement of directories and/or subdirectories is reflective of differing levels of security access to different portions of the executable instructions (e.g., where particular intellectual property rights may be involved for one or more particular portions), and/or it may be that the hierarchical arrangement of directories and/or subdirectories may be reflective of an order of compilation and/or linking of at least a subset of the executable instructions. Thus, and as previously discussed, in a collaborative development of a relatively complex analysis routine between developers of two different development environments (one entailing the use of federated areas  2566  and associated primary programming language, and one not entailing the use of one or both of those), it may be desirable to enable sharing of objects that are stored across multiple ones of such directories and/or subdirectories, and across corresponding multiple ones of federated areas  2566  that may be organized into a hierarchy that corresponds (to at least some degree) to such a hierarchy of directories and/or subdirectories. To enable this, and as depicted, each of the transfer areas  2166  or  2866  may be defined to encompass storage space associated with a directory or sub-directory, and may be synchronized with a corresponding transfer area  2666  that is defined within a federated area  2566  that is meant to correspond to that same directory or sub-directory. Also, the position of each such directory or subdirectory within its hierarchy of directories and/or subdirectories may be made to correspond to the position of its corresponding federated area  2566  within its hierarchy of federated areas  2566 . 
     As also depicted in  FIG.  16 H , and as was earlier discussed in reference to  FIG.  16 C , it may be deemed desirable to provide each federated area  2566  in such a hierarchy of federated areas  2566  with a human-readable federated area identifier  2568  that is in some way reflective of the position of each federated area  2566  in the hierarchy, and therefore, may provide some indication of how to navigate among those federated areas  2566  within the hierarchy. As a result, and as additionally depicted in  FIG.  16 H , it may be that such human-readable federated area identifiers  2568  are also be reflective of the naming convention used in the hierarchy of directories and/or sub-directories, as well as how to navigate among those directories and/or subdirectories. Such a correspondence in hierarchies and naming conventions between two such environments may be deemed desirable to enable the different developers of two such environments to more easily refer to particular objects for which there may be corresponding copies and/or corresponding versions at similar locations within the corresponding hierarchies. 
     Turning to  FIG.  16 I , and as previously discussed in connection with  FIG.  14 F , the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused to instantiate one or more federated areas  2566  that may each be entirely constrained to exist within the storage space provided by a local file system  2663  implemented entirely within the storage  2660  of a single one of the storage devices  2600   a - x . More precisely, each such federated area  2566  may, therefore, not span across the storage spaces provided by multiple ones of the storage devices  2600   a - x  in any way. As depicted, each such federated area  2566  may be limited to storing undivided objects  2220 ,  2270 ,  2330 ,  2370 ,  2440 ,  2470 ,  2720  and/or  2770 . As also depicted, each such federated area  2566  may include one or more storage locations designated as serving a specialized purpose, such as a container  2565 , a shared memory space  2665  or a transfer area  2666 . As also depicted, such storage of undivided objects may be within or outside of such designated storage locations, or both. 
     Turning to  FIG.  16 J , and as previously discussed in connection with  FIG.  14 G , the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused to instantiate one or more federated areas  2566  that may exist within a storage space provided by the distributed file system  2664  implemented to span portions of the storage  2660  of multiple ones of the storage devices  2600   a - x . More precisely, each such federated area  2566  may, therefore, span across the storage spaces provided by multiple ones of the storage devices  2600   a - x . As depicted, each such federated area  2566  may be used to store undivided objects  2220 ,  2270 ,  2330 ,  2370 ,  2440 ,  2470 ,  2720  and/or  2770 . However, as also depicted, each such federated area  2566  may alternatively or additionally be used to store data object blocks  2336 ,  2336   d ,  2376 ,  2376   d ,  2776  and/or  2776   d  of large data sets  2330 ,  2330   d ,  2370 ,  2370   d ,  2770  and  2770   d , respectively, such that they are caused to span multiple ones of the storage devices  2600   a - x . As also depicted, each such federated area  2566  may include one or more storage locations designated as serving a specialized purpose, such as a container  2565 , a shared memory space  2665  or a transfer area  2666 . As also depicted, such storage of undivided objects and/or data object blocks may be within or outside of such designated storage locations, or both. 
     Turning more specifically to  FIG.  16 K , although not specifically discussed or depicted in either of  FIG.  16 I or  16 J , embodiments of the distributed processing system  2000  are possible in which a mixture of different federated areas  2566  may be instantiated in which one or more may exist entirely within storage space provided by a single storage device  2600 , while one or more others may span across storage space provided by multiple storage devices  2600 . As also more specifically depicted in  FIG.  16 K , it may be that such federated areas  2566  may be instantiated in which one or more may exist entirely within storage space provided by a single federated device  2500 , and/or in which one or more may span across storage space provided by multiple federated devices  2500  (either in lieu of or in addition to storage within one or more storage devices  2600 ). Again, regardless of whether a particular federated area  2566  exists within storage space provided by a single federated device  2500  or storage device  2600 , or multiple federated devices  2500  or multiple storage devices  2600 , each such federated area  2566  may include one or more storage locations designated as serving a specialized purpose, such as a container  2565 , a shared memory space  2665  or a transfer area  2666 . As also depicted, the storage of undivided objects may be within or outside of such designated storage locations, or both. 
       FIGS.  17 A,  17 B,  17 C,  17 D,  17 E,  17 F,  17 G,  17 H,  17 I,  17 J,  17 K and  17 L , together, illustrate the manner in which a set of objects may be used to define and perform an example job flow  2200   fgh , as well as to document the resulting example performance  2700   afg   2   h  of the example job flow  2200   fgh .  FIG.  17 E  additionally illustrates how a container  2565  and information incorporated into one of the task routines  2440   f  and/or into the job flow definition  2220   fgh  may be used to verify the functionality of that task routine.  FIG.  17 F  additionally illustrates how a mid-flow data set  2370   fg  may be converted between two forms  2370   pfg  and  2370   sfg  amidst being exchanged between two task routines to accommodate the use of different programming languages therebetween.  FIG.  17 G  additionally illustrates how a mid-flow data set  2370   fg  may be directly exchanged in its  2370   sfg  form between two task routines written in a secondary programming language, while a conversion thereof into its  2370   pfg  form may also be performed, at least partially in parallel, to enable storage of the mid-flow data set  2370   fg  in a form that is normally accepted for storage in a federated area  2566 .  FIG.  17 H  additionally illustrates the manner in which the job flow definition  2200   pfg h may be marked as associated with another job flow definition  2200   sfgh  from which the job flow definition  2200   pfg h may have been derived by translation from one programming language to another.  FIG.  17 J  additionally illustrates the manner in which a job flow  2200   fgh  that employs non-neuromorphic processing to perform a function may be marked as associated with another job flow  2200   jk  that employs neuromorphic processing to perform the same function and that was derived from the job flow  2200   fgh .  FIGS.  17 K and  17 L , together, additionally illustrate the manner in which the job flow definition  2220   fgh  may be generated as and/or from a DAG  2270   fgh . For sake of ease of discussion and understanding, the same example job flow  2200   fgh  and example performance  2700   afg   2   h  of the example job flow  2200   fgh  are depicted (or are at least associated with what is depicted) throughout all of  FIGS.  17 A-L . Also, it should be noted that the example job flow  2200   fgh  and example performance  2700   afg   2   h  thereof are deliberately relatively simple examples presented herein for purposes of illustration, and should not be taken as limiting what is described and claimed herein to such relatively simple embodiments. 
     Turning to  FIGS.  17 A and  17 B , as depicted, the example job flow  2200   fgh  specifies three tasks that are to be performed in a relatively simple three-step linear order through a single execution of a single task routine  2440  for each task, with none of those three tasks entailing the use of neuromorphic processing. Also, the example job flow  2200   fgh  requires a single data set as an input data object to the first task in the linear order, may generate and exchange one or two mid-flow data sets among the tasks, and generates a single result report as an output data object of the last task in the linear order. As also depicted, in the example performance  2700   afg   2   h  of the example job flow  2200   fgh , task routines  2440   f ,  2440   g   2  and  2440   h  are the three task routines selected to be executed to perform the three tasks. Also, a flow input data set  2330   a  is selected to serve as the input data object, and a result report  2770   afg   2   h  is the output data object to be generated as an output of the performance  2700   afg   2   h . Again, it should be noted that other embodiments of a job flow are possible in which there may be many more tasks to be performed, many more data objects that serve as inputs and/or many more data objects generated as outputs. It should also be noted that other embodiments of a job flow are possible in which there is a much more complex order of the performance of tasks that may include parallel and/or conditional branches that may converge and/or diverge. 
     It is important to note that, within a job flow definition  2220 , it is the tasks that make up the associated job flow  2200  that are specified, while the particular task routines  2440  that are executed to perform each of those tasks are not specified. Thus, in the flow definition  2225  flow task identifiers  2241  are used to uniquely identify each task that is to be performed as part of performing the associated job flow  2200 , while task routine identifiers  2441  that would uniquely identify each task routine  2440  are not used. As has been discussed, this allows the selection of particular task routines  2440  that will be executed to perform each task to be forestalled until the time that each task is to be performed, thereby enabling the most recent version of task routine  2440  be selected and used to perform each task. This may occur as the default manner of selecting versions of task routines  2440  to perform each task, as will be explained in greater detail. As an exception to such a default manner of selecting versions of task routines  2440 , a request may be received to repeat an earlier performance of a job flow  2200  in a manner intended to recreate the same conditions of that earlier performance, including the use of the same versions of task routines  2440  as were used in that earlier performance. 
     Also within the flow definition  2225  may be indications of data dependencies among the tasks that are identified therein using flow tasks identifiers  2241 . In a manner similar to the specification of tasks, rather than particular task routines, such data dependencies may be indicated within the flow definition  2225  in a manner that does not involve the use of identifiers of specific data objects (e.g., specific flow input data sets  2330 , specific mid-flow data sets  2370  and/or specific result reports  2770 ) so as to allow the associated job flow  2200  to be performed using any data objects that may be desired. Thus, in this way, at least input data sets  2330  used as inputs to a performance of a job flow  2200  are able to be specified in each request that is made to perform that job flow  2200 . 
     It should also be noted that, in some embodiments, and as depicted, each of the flow task identifiers  2241  may incorporate (or be otherwise accompanied by) task type identifiers  2242  that each uniquely specify a type of the corresponding task. Stated differently, in some embodiments, the tasks that may be specified to be performed as part of performing a job flow  2200  may be divided into a selection of types that may be based on any of a variety aspects that may differ among those tasks. Again, in some embodiments, it may be that a subset of the tasks that may be specified to be performed as part of performing a job flow require the provision of a particular service and/or a specialized hardware component that may be available within just a subset of the federated devices  2500 , within just a subset of the storage devices  2600 , and/or within just a subset of VMs. Such a particular service may include features unique to a particular file system that may be used in just a subset of the storage devices  2600 , and/or such a specialized hardware component may be a GPU or neuromorphic device that may be present in just a subset of the federated devices  2500 . Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, it may be that a subset of the tasks that may be specified to be performed require access to particular licensed, legally restricted and/or encrypted data objects where such access requires the performance of that subset of tasks occur within a particular type of container environment  2565 , within a particular federated device  2500 , and/or within a particular storage device  2600  that has access to such data objects. Also alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, it may be that a subset of the tasks that may be specified to be performed entail parallel performances of the same task that use and/or generate multiple blocks of very large data object(s) that may be stored in a distributed manner as multiple blocks. 
     It should be noted that, in some embodiments, there may be a task type that is pre-selected as being the default task type that is invoked in situations where no task type identifier  2242  has been explicitly specified for a particular task. Such a default task type may be selected based on being associated with using a selected default set of resources that are pre-selected to be the minimum set of resources that are expected to be provided by federated devices  2500  and/or accompanying storage devices  2600 . In such embodiments, and as will be explained in greater detail, it may be that sets of two or more task routines are stored in federated area(s)  2566  that perform the same task, but which may differ in task type to the extent that at least one of the task routines is of the default type, while at least one other of the task routines is of a type that requires one or more resource(s) beyond the resources that are expected to be provided to support task routines of the default task type. 
     Therefore, the job flow definition  2220   fgh  for the example job flow  2200   fgh  may include a flow definition  2225  that specifies the three tasks to be performed, the order in which they are to be performed as a result of dependencies thereamong, which of the three tasks is to accept a data object (e.g., a flow input data set  2330 ) as an input and/or generate a data object (e.g., a result report  2770 ) as an output, and/or a task type for one or more of the three tasks. Again, in specifying the three tasks to be performed, the flow definition  2225  may use the depicted flow task identifiers  2241   f ,  2241   g  and  2241   h  that uniquely identify each of the three tasks (which again, may each include, or be otherwise accompanied by, a task type identifier  2242 ). As depicted, there may be just a single task routine  2440   f  available among one or more federated areas  2566  to which access is granted that is able to perform the task specified with the flow task identifier  2241   f , and therefore, the single task routine  2440   f  may be the one task routine that is assigned the flow task identifier  2241   f  to provide an indication that it is able to perform that task. Also, there may be up to three task routines  2440   g   1 ,  2440   g   2  and  2440   g   3  available among the one or more accessible federated areas  2566  that are each able to perform the task specified with the flow task identifier  2241   g , and therefore, each may be assigned the same flow task identifier  2241   g . Further, there may be just a single task routine  2440   h  available within the one or more accessible federated areas  2566  that is able to perform the task specified with the flow task identifier  2241   h , resulting in the assignment of the flow task identifier  2241   h  to the single task routine  2440   h.    
     As has been discussed, the job flow definition  2220   fgh  specifies the tasks to be performed in a job flow, but does not specify any particular task routine  2440  to be selected for execution to perform any particular one of those tasks during any particular performance of the job flow. Where there are multiple task routines  2440  available that are each capable of performing a particular task, a single one of those multiple task routines  2440  is selected for execution to do so, and the selection that is made may, in part, depend on the nature of the request received to perform a job flow. Again, it may be that, by default, the selection of a particular task routine  2440  for execution to perform each particular task is based on which task routine  2440  is the newest version to perform each task, and/or may be based on which task routine  2440  was used in a previous performance of each task in a specified previous performance of a job flow. Again, the selection criteria that is used to select a task routine  2440  for each task may depend on whether an entirely new performance of a job flow is requested or a repetition of an earlier performance of a job flow is requested. As depicted, in the example performance  2700   afg   2   h  of the example job flow  2200   fgh , the task routine  2440   g   2  is selected from among the task routines  2440   g   1 ,  2440   g   2  and  2440   g   3  for execution to perform the task identified with the flow task identifier  2241   g.    
     Alternatively or additionally, and as previously explained in connection with  FIGS.  16 A-B , in situations in which objects needed for the performance of a job flow are distributed among multiple federated areas that are related by inheritance and/or priority relationships, the selection of a particular task routine  2440  to perform a task from among multiple task routines  2440  that are each capable of performing that same task may, in part, be dependent upon which federated area  2566  each of such multiple task routines  2440  are stored within. By way of example,  FIG.  17 C  depicts an example situation in which objects needed to perform the job flow  2200   fgh  are distributed among the federated areas  2566   m ,  2566   u  and  2566   x  in the example hierarchical tree of federated areas first introduced in  FIGS.  16 B-C . More specifically, in this example, the data set  2330   a  and the task routine  2440   g   2  are stored within the private federated area  2566   m ; the task routine  2440   g   3  is stored within the intervening federated area  2566   u ; and the data set  2330   b  and the task routines  2440   f ,  2440   g   1  and  2440   h  are stored within the base federated area  2566   x.    
     As previously discussed in reference to the linear hierarchy depicted in  FIG.  16 A , a “perspective” from which a job flow is to be executed may be based on which federated areas  2566  are made accessible to the device and/or device user that makes the request for the performance to occur. As depicted, where the request to perform the job flow  2200   fgh  is received from a user granted access to the private federated area  2566   m , as well as to the base federated area  2566   x , but not granted access to any of the federated areas  2566   q ,  2566   r  or  2566   u , the search for objects to use in the requested performance may be limited to those stored within the private federated area  2566   m  and the base federated area  2566   x . Stated differently, the perspective that may be automatically selected for use in determining which federated areas  2566  are searched for objects may be that of the private federated area  2566   m , since the private federated area  2566   m  is the one federated area to which the user in this example has been granted access to that is subject to the most restricted degree of access. Based on this perspective, the private federated area  2566   m  will be searched, along with the base federated area  2566   x , and along with any intervening federated areas  2566  therebetween, if there were any federated areas  2566  therebetween. 
     As a result, the task routine  2440   g   3  stored within the intervening federated area  2566   u  is entirely unavailable for use in the requested performance as a result of the user having no grant of access to the intervening federated area  2566   u , and this then becomes the reason why the task routine  2440   g   3  is not selected. In contrast, as a result of an inheritance relationship between the private federated area  2566   m  and the base federated area  2566   x , the data set  2330   b  and each of the task routines  2440   f ,  2440   g   1  and  2440   h  stored in the based federated area  2566   x  may each be as readily available for being used in the requested performance of the job flow  2200   fgh  as the data set  2330   a  and the task routine  2440   g   2  stored in the private federated area  2566   m . Therefore, the task routines  2440   f  and  2440   h  may be selected as a result of being the only task routines available within either federated area  2566   m  or  2566   x  that perform their respective tasks. However, although both of the flow input data sets  2330   a  and  2330   b  may be equally available through that same inheritance relationship, a priority relationship also in place between the federated areas  2566   m  and  2566   x  may result in the data set  2330   a  being selected as the data set used as input, since the flow input data set  2330   a  is stored within the private federated area  2566   m , which is searched first for the objects needed for the requested performance, while the flow input data set  2330   b  is stored within the base federated area  2566   x , which is searched after the search of the private federated area  2566   m . The same combination of inheritance and priority relationships in place between the federated areas  2566   m  and  2566   x  may also result in the task routine  2440   g   2  stored within the private federated area  2566   m  being selected, instead of the task routine  2440   g   1  stored within the base federated area  2566   x.    
     Turning more broadly to  FIGS.  17 A and  17 D , the selected task routines  2440   f ,  2440   g   2  and  2440   h  may each include various interfaces  2443  and/or  2444  at which data may be received as an input and/or generated as an output. As depicted for the example job flow  2200   fgh , among these various interfaces may be a data interface  2443  by which the selected task routine  2440   f  may receive the selected flow input data set  2330   a  provided as an input to the whole of the job flow  2200   fgh , as well as an input to the task routine  2440   f , itself. Also among these various interfaces may be a data interface  2443  by which the selected task routine  2440   h  may provide the result report  2770   afg   2   h  as an output of the whole of the job flow  2200   fgh , as well as an output of the task routine  2440   h , itself. As also depicted, among these various interfaces may be further data interfaces  2443  and/or task interfaces  2444  by which a mid-flow data set  2370   fg  may be exchanged between the pair of selected task routines  2440   f  and  2440   g   2 , and/or by which a mid-flow data set  2370   gh  may be exchanged between the pair of selected task routines  2440   g   2  and  2440   h.    
     As depicted, the job flow definition  2220   fgh  for the example job flow  2200   fgh  may include interface definitions  2224  that define various aspects of each such interface  2443  and/or  2444 , including and not limited to, data type, data size, data format, data structure, data encoding, etc. of whatever type of data may pass therethrough. Since many of the specified aspects of an interface  2443  and/or  2444  may necessarily be closely associated with the manner in which data items are organized and made accessible within whatever type of data that may pass therethrough, the interface definitions  2224  may additionally include organization definitions  2223  that specify such organizational and access aspects of the data objects. Thus, as depicted in  FIG.  17 D , where each of the data objects  2330   a ,  2370   fg ,  2370   gh  and/or  2370   fg  may include a two-dimensional array of data items  2339  organized into rows  2333  and columns  2334 , the organization definitions  2223  may specify various aspects of the data items  2339  (e.g., data type, bit width, etc.), and/or the manner in which the data items  2339  are organized (e.g., the depicted rows  2333  and/or the columns  2334 ) for each of these data objects. Additionally, and as also depicted, one or more of such data objects may incorporate metadata  2338  that may also describe aspects of the data objects  2339  and/or aspects of the manner in which the data objects  2339  are organized. In some embodiments, it may be that comparisons are made between such aspects as specified in the metadata  2338  and such aspects as specified in the organization definitions  2223  to ensure compatibility between data objects and data interfaces  2443 . 
     In some embodiments, it may be required that an exchange of data between two tasks within a job flow giving rise to a data dependency therebetween must be expressed within the flow definition  2225  as a combination of one task outputting a data object through a data interface  2443  that serves as an output interface, and the other task receiving that same data object through a data interface  2443  that serves as an input interface. This expression of such a dependency in which the exchanged data object is explicitly referenced is reflected in  FIG.  17 D  by the example depictions of the pairs of data interfaces  2443  by which the task routines  2440   f  and  2440   g   2  may exchange the explicitly referenced mid-flow data set  2370   fg , and/or by which the task routines  2440   g   2  may exchange the explicitly referenced mid-flow data set  2370   gh . Such a requirement of such explicit references to such exchanged data objects may be deemed desirable as an approach to ensure clarity in the manner in which data dependencies are expressed within the flow definition  2225 . 
     However, in other embodiments, it may be permitted to express an exchange of a data object between two tasks in an implied manner in which a data dependency between two tasks is expressed as one task being received by the other task through a task interface  2444  serving as an input of the other task. In essence, the one task is referred to as if it, itself, were the data object that is to be received by the other task. Thus, the one task is essentially treated, in this alternate syntax, as if it were a data object, and not as if it were a task, even though the functional result is that both tasks will be treated, for purposes of execution, as tasks that exchange a data object between them. This expression of such a dependency in which no actual data object is explicitly referenced is reflected in  FIG.  17 D  by the alternate example depictions of the pairs of task interfaces  2444  by which exchanges of data object are implied between the task routines  2440   f  and  2440   g   2 , and between  2440   g   2  and  2440   h.    
     Whether the manner in which the dependencies between the task routines  2440   f  and  2440   g   2  and between the task routines  2440   g   2  and  2440   h  are expressed within the flow definition  2225  entails an explicit reference to the exchanged data objects, or not, there may be no functional difference in what occurs during runtime. More specifically, during performance of the depicted example job flow  2200   fgh , the mid-flow data set  2370   fg  may still be generated by the task routine  2440   f  and provided to the task routine  2440   g   2 , and the mid-flow data set  2370   gh  may still be generated by the task routine  2440   g   2  and provided to the task routine  2440   h . There may be just a difference in syntax used in the flow definition  2225 . 
     As previously discussed, the job flow definition  2220   fgh  specifies tasks to be performed and not the particular task routines  2440  to be selected for execution to perform those tasks, which provides the flexibility to select the particular task routines  2440  for each task dynamically at the time a performance takes place. Similarly, the job flow definition  2220   fgh  may also not specify the particular data objects to be received as input to the performance of the job flow  2200   fgh  and/or to be generated as output by the performance of the job flow  2200   fgh , which provides the flexibility to select those particular data objects dynamically at the time a performance of the job flow  2200   fgh  takes place. 
     The specification of aspects of the interfaces  2443  and/or  2444  may be deemed desirable to ensure continuing interoperability among task routines  2440 , as well as between task routines  2440  and data objects, in each new performance of a job flow  2200 , even as new versions of one or more of the task routines  2440  and/or new data objects are created for use in later performances. In some embodiments, new versions of task routines  2440  that may be created at a later time may be required to implement the interfaces  2443  and/or  2444  in a manner that exactly matches the specifications of those interfaces  2443  and/or  2444  within a job flow definition  2220 . 
     However, in other embodiments, a limited degree of variation in the implementation of the interfaces  2443  and/or  2444  by newer versions of task routines  2440  may be permitted as long as “backward compatibility” is maintained in retrieving input data objects or generating output data objects through data interfaces  2443 , and/or in communications with other task routines through task interfaces  2444 . As will be explained in greater detail, the one or more federated devices  2500  may employ the job flow definitions  2220  stored within one or more federated areas  2566  to confirm that new versions of task routines  2440  correctly implement task interfaces  2444  and/or data interfaces  2443 . By way of example, in some embodiments, it may be deemed permissible for an interface  2443  or  2444  that receives information to be altered in a new version of a task routine  2440  to accept additional information from a newer data object or a newer version of another task routine  2440  if that additional information is provided, but to not require the provision of that additional information, since older data objects don&#39;t provide that additional information. Alternatively or additionally, by way of example, it may be deemed permissible for an interface  2443  or  2444  that outputs information to be altered in a new version of a task routine  2440  to output additional information as an additional data object generated as an output, or to output additional information to a newer version of another task routine  2440  in a manner that permits that additional information to be ignored by an older version of that other task routine  2440 . 
     Returning to  FIGS.  17 A and  17 B , an example instance log  2720   afg   2   h  that is generated as result a of the example performance  2700   afg   2   h  of the example job flow  2200   fgh  is depicted. It is important to note that, while the job flow definition  2220   fgh  serves to provide the information needed to perform the job flow  2200   fgh , it is the instance log  2720   afg   2   h  that serves to document the details of a single instance of the performance  2700   afg   2   h . It is also important to note that it is possible for the performance  2700   afg   2   h  to be repeated using all of the same data objects, task routines, etc. such that there can be multiple instances of the performance  2700   afg   2   h . More specifically, and as described elsewhere herein as part of supporting accountability in the development of job flows, a repeat of the performance of a job flow may be requested as part of an approach to searching for and/or diagnosing potential malfunctions, programming errors and/or other issues that may have arisen during the original performance of that same job flow. By way of example, a performance of a job flow may be repeated to confirm the results achieved in the original performance. Both the original performance and the repeated performance are each a separate instance of the same performance of a job flow. Therefore, while the job flow definition  2220   fgh  does not specify particular data objects or task routines  2440  to be used in any performance of the example job flow  2200   fgh , the example instance log  2720   afg   2   h  does include such specific details as part of documenting a single instance that has occurred of the example performance  2700   afg   2   h.    
     Thus, the example instance log  2720   afg   2   h  includes the job flow identifier  2221   fgh  for the example job flow definition  2220   fgh  to identify the definition of the job flow  2200   fgh  that was performed, and the instance log  2720   afg   2   h  also includes a job flow instance identifier  2701  that uniquely identifies a single instance that has occurred (and that is documented) of the performance  2700   afg   2   h  of the job flow  2200   fgh . The instance log  2720   afg   2   h  also includes a flow description  2725  that documents the step-by-step of what occurred during the instance of performance that the instance log  27202   afg   2   h  documents. Thus, the flow description  2725  includes the task routine identifiers  2441   f ,  2441   g   2  and  2441   h  that identify the particular task routines  2440   f ,  2440   g   2  and  2440   h , respectively, that were executed in that instance of the performance  2700   afg   2   h ; the data object identifier  2331   a  to identify the data set  2330   a  that was used as an input data object in that instance of the performance  2700   afg   2   h ; and the result report identifier  2771   afg   2   h  to identify the result report  2770   afg   2   h  that was generated during the example performance  2700   afg   2   h . Again, the instance log  2720   afg   2   h  is intended to serve as a record of sufficient detail concerning a past instance of the performance  2700   afg   2   h  as to enable all of the objects associated with that past instance to be later identified, retrieved and used to repeat the performance  2700   afg   2   h  (i.e., cause a new instance of the performance  2700   afg   2   h  to occur). In contrast, the job flow definition  2220   fgh  is intended to remain relatively open-ended for use with a variety of data objects and/or with a set of task routines  2440  that may change over time as improvements are made to the task routines  2440 . 
     Returning more specifically to  FIG.  17 B , as will be explained in greater detail, it may be that, during a performance of a job flow, each instance of performance of one of the tasks thereof may also be assigned a unique identifier, such as the depicted task instance identifiers  2704 . Further, in some embodiments, and as depicted, it may be that the task instance identifiers  2704  are also included in an instance log as part of documenting each instance of performance of each task. As will also be explained in greater detail, it may be that the job flow instance identifier  2701 , the task instance identifiers  2704 , and/or still other identifiers associated with an instance of a performance of a job flow may be used to coordinate the performance of various operations during a job flow performance. Alternatively or additionally, such identifiers may be used in providing a more granular indication of the status of an instance of a job flow performance that is currently underway. 
     Turning to  FIG.  17 E , and as previously discussed, in some embodiments, the input/output behavior of one or more of the task routines  2440  that have been selected to be executed in performing the job flow  2200   fgh  may be verified by being monitored during the performance of the job flow  2200   fgh , with the observed input/output behavior being compared to the expected input/output behavior. More specifically, and as depicted as an example, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by execution of the performance component  2544  of the control routine  2540  to instantiate a container  2565  within which a task routine  2440  (e.g., the depicted task routine  2440   f ) is to be executed. The processor(s)  2550  may then be further caused to execute the executable instructions  2447  of the task routine  2440   f  within the execution environment of the container  2565  to enable monitoring of the input/output behavior that is caused to occur as a result, as well as to enable such input/output behavior to be compared to the input/output behavior that is expected. In so doing, the interface definitions  2224  within the job flow definition  2220   fgh , the comments  2448  of the task routine  2440   f , and/or the particular ones of the executable instructions  2447  that implement each of the depicted interfaces  2443  and  2444  of the task routine  2440   f , may be employed by the performance component  2544  as a reference for those interfaces of the task routine  2440   f  from which the expected behavior may be derived. 
     In some embodiments, the instantiation of the container environment  2565  may be done to also create an execution environment for the task routine  2440   f  in which the expected input/output behavior is not simply monitored and compared to the expected behavior, but is actually also enforced upon the task routine  2440   f  such that any aberrant input/output behavior by the task routine  2440   f  is not allowed to be fully performed (e.g., attempted input/output accesses to data structures and/or input/output devices that go beyond the expected input/output behavior are prevented from actually taking place). Where the observed input/output behavior conforms to the expected input/output behavior, the input/output functionality of the task routine  2440   f  may be deemed to have been verified. 
     Regardless of whether the container  2565  enforces expected input/output behavior in addition to monitoring the input/output behavior that actually occurs, the results of the comparison between the observed input/output behavior and the expected input/output behavior (e.g., whether the input/output functionality of the task routine  2440   f  is verified, or not) may be recorded in any of a variety of ways. By way of example, in embodiments in which each task routine  2440  is stored within one or more federated areas  2566  through use of a database to enable more efficient retrieval of task routines  2440 , the results of this comparison for the task routine  2440   f  may be marked in an entry maintained by such a database for the task routine  2440   f  Alternatively or additionally, where a DAG  2270  is generated that includes a visual representation of the task routine  2440   f , that representation may be accompanied by a visual indicator of the results of this comparison. 
     As has been discussed, the performance of a job flow that includes the execution of the depicted task routine  2440   f  may be carried out with a “perspective” based on which federated area(s)  2566  that access has been granted to, and in so doing, the depicted task routine  2440   f  may be executed within such a federated area  2566  where access has been granted. Correspondingly, it may therefore be that the container  2565  in which the depicted task routine  2440   f  is executed may be instantiated within that federated area  2566 . However, in other embodiments, such a container  2565 , while being associated with such a perspective, may not actually be instantiated within any federated area  2566 . Instead, the exact choice of storage space in which container(s)  2565  may be instantiated may be determined based on other factors, as will be described in greater detail. By way of example, and as will also be explained in greater detail, it may also be that all task routines  2440  are to be executed within separate containers  2565  that are instantiated as part of a system for the allocation of processing, storage and/or other resources of one or more of the devices  2500  and/or  2600 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  17 F , as previously discussed, in some embodiments, the combination of task routines  2440  that are executed during the performance of a job flow  2200  may include task routines  2440  with executable instructions  2447  and/or comments  2448  written in differing programming languages with the differing syntax, vocabulary, formatting and/or semantic features thereof. More specifically, and as depicted, the task routine  2440   f  may have been written in a secondary programming language that, despite not being the primary programming language that is normally interpreted by the processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  at runtime, may still be capable of being so interpreted at runtime (either in addition to or in lieu of the primary programming language) such that the task routine  2440   f  is designated as task routine  2440   sf . Therefore, within the task routine  2440   sf , the executable instructions  2447  may be written in the secondary programming language, and the comments  2448  may be written with the syntax used to distinguish comments from executable instructions in the secondary programming language. 
     As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, among the differences between different programming languages may be support for different data types and/or differences in array types, including differences in data types of items of data within arrays and/or differences in accessing items of data therein. Thus, although the executable instructions  2447  of the task routine  2440   sf  may have been written to implement the depicted data input and output interfaces  2443  to receive the flow input data set  2330   a  and to generate the mid-flow data set  2370   g  as an output, there may be differences between the primary form of the flow input data set  2330   pa  that is stored in the depicted federated area  2566  and the secondary form  2330   sa  that is able to be accepted as an input, and between the primary form of the mid-flow data set  2370   sfg  that is generated as an output and the primary form  2370   pfg  that is stored in the depicted federated area  2566 . 
     To resolve such differences, the performance component  2544  may perform a conversions of data structures and/or data types (e.g., serialization or de-serialization) of the flow input data set  2330   a  from its primary form  2330   pa  to its secondary form  2330   sa , and of the mid-flow data set  2370   fg  from its secondary form  2370   sfg  to its primary form  2370   pfg  during runtime. More precisely, the performance component  2544  may temporarily instantiate a shared memory space(s)  2665  within which such differing forms of the flow input data set  2330   a  and of the mid-flow data set  2370   fg  may be temporarily stored for the performance of such conversions during the performance of the job flow  2200   f  As has been discussed, it may be deemed desirable to store mid-flow data sets  2370  that are generated during the performance of a job flow as part of enabling a subsequent analysis of, and/or accountability for, the performance of individual tasks of that job flow by having the mid-flow data sets thereof  2370  preserved in federated area(s)  2566  along with other objects associated with that job flow. With a particular programming language having been designated as the primary programming language, it may be deemed preferable to store the mid-flow data set  2370   fg  in just its primary form  2370   pfg , and to not consume valuable storage space in a federated area  2566  by also storing both forms. Thus, while the mid-flow data set  2370   fg  may be persisted in the depicted federated area  2566  in the primary form  2370   pfg , the secondary form  2370   sfg  may be discarded as part of un-instantiating the shared memory space  2665  in which the conversion from secondary form  2370   sfg  to primary form  2370   pfg  took place when the performance of the job flow  2200   fgh  is completed. 
     Again, in some embodiments, the depicted container  2565  in which the task routine  2440   sf  is executed may be instantiated within a federated area  2566  as part of the job flow  2200   fgh  being performed with a “perspective” based on which federated area(s)  2566  that access has been granted to. However, again, in other embodiments, such a container  2565 , while being associated with such a perspective, may not actually be instantiated within any federated area  2566 . Also again, in some embodiments, it may also be that all task routines  2440  are to be executed within separate containers  2565  that are instantiated as part of a system for the allocation of processing, storage and/or other resources of one or more of the devices  2500  and/or  2600 . In such embodiments, it may be that such shared memory space(s)  2665  are either instantiated directly within one or more containers  2565 , or are instantiated to be otherwise accessible from within one or more  2565  in which task routines  2440  are executed. 
     Turning to  FIG.  17 G , as also previously discussed in connection with embodiments in which combinations of task routines  2440  may executed that include executable instructions  2447  and/or comments  2448  written in differing programming languages, a situation may arise in which a pair of task routines  2440  written in a secondary programming language are to be executed sequentially with data object(s) output by one to be used as input to the other. Again, among the differences between different programming languages may be support for different data types and/or differences in supported array types, including differences in the data types of data values within arrays and/or differences in accessing data values therein. As a result, in embodiments in which data objects are stored within federated areas  2566  in a form that matches such aspects of a primary programming language, one or more conversions may need to be performed where a data object output by a task routine  2440  written in a secondary programming language is to be stored within a federated area  2566 . Similarly, one or more conversions may need to be performed where a data object stored within a federated area  2566  is to be retrieved therefrom for use as an input to a task routine  2440  written in a secondary programming language. 
     Again, such conversions performed on data objects (e.g., serialization or de-serialization) may consume considerable processing and/or storage resources, and accordingly, may consume a considerable amount of time to perform. Thus, where a data object is to be exchanged between two task routines  2440  that are both written in the same secondary programming language, it may be deemed desirable to simply allow that data object to be exchanged directly therebetween to avoid the consumption of resources and time that would be incurred to perform both a conversion and then a reversal of that conversion on that data object. However, as has also been previously discussed, it may be deemed desirable to store mid-flow data sets  2370  that are generated during the performance of a job flow as part of enabling a subsequent analysis of the performance of individual tasks of that job flow by having the mid-flow data sets thereof  2370  preserved in federated area(s)  2566  along with other objects associated with that job flow. 
     As an approach to at least reduce the consumption of resources and time where a data object is to be exchanged between two task routines  2440  written in a secondary programming language, it may be that a shared memory space  2665  is instantiated as a mechanism to enable a direct exchange of that data object between those two task routines  2440 , and to enable the performance of the conversion(s) required to generate a form of the data object suitable for storage within a federated area  2565 . In this way, the performance of reversal(s) of those conversion(s), and resulting consumption of resources and time, may be entirely avoided. The more direct exchange of the mid-flow data set  2370   sfg  and the generation of the corresponding mid-flow data set  2370   pfg  therefrom may be performed at least partially in parallel to minimize delays in the commencement of the execution of the task routine  24405   g   2 , and accordingly, the use of the mid-flow data set  2370   sfg  as input thereto. 
     It should be noted that the use of the shared memory space  2665  to effect a more direct exchange of a data object between two task routines  2440  may also enable an increase in efficiency in such a transfer by enabling the transfer to be performed in a manner that avoids the generation of copies of the data object. More specifically, the shared memory space  2665  may be used by one of the task routines  2440  as the location at which the data object is directly generated “in situ” within the shared memory space  2665 , instead of being generated elsewhere within a different storage location and then copied into the shared memory space  2665 . Then, the same shared memory space  2665  may be used by the other of the task routines  2440  as the location from which the data object is directly used as an input such that various operations may be performed directly on the data object, also “in situ” within the shared memory space  2665 , instead of being copied from the shared memory space  2665  to a different storage location where those various operations would be performed on that data object. 
     Stated differently, the shared memory space  2665  represents an area of storage space that is at least directly accessible to both of a pair of sequentially executed task routines  2440  where one task routine  2440  generates and leaves a data object in place for the other task routine  2440  directly manipulate in the same place. As part of enabling this, it may be that the shared memory space  2665  is instantiated within storage space that, at first, overlaps (either fully or partially) the storage space of the container  2565  within which the first task routine  2440  of the pair is executed, and then, is overlapped (either fully or partially) by the storage space of the container  2565  within which the second task routine  2440  of the pair is executed. Where the pair of task routines  2440  are sequentially executed, one after the other, within the same container  2565 , then the shared memory space  2665  may simply be instantiated within storage space that overlaps (either fully or partially) the storage space of that one container  2565 . As a result of such overlapping of storage spaces, it may be that such a mechanism of exchanging a data object is not able to be used in a situation in which more than one task routine  2440  is to receive the same data object as an input, since this would likely result in conflicts among those multiple receiving task routines  2440  as they each access the very same data object at the very same location. 
     The shared memory space  2665  may remain instantiated for a relatively limited period of time sufficient to enable such a direct exchange and performance of conversion(s) to take place. When the shared memory space  2665  is uninstantiated, the original form of the data object may cease to be stored, altogether, such that no storage space continues to be occupied by it. 
     Again, in some embodiments, the depicted containers  2565  in which the task routines  2440   sf  and  2440   sg   2  are executed may be instantiated within a federated area  2566  as part of the job flow  2200   fgh  being performed with a “perspective” based on which federated area(s)  2566  that access has been granted to. However, again, in other embodiments, such containers  2565 , while being associated with such a perspective, may not actually be instantiated within any federated area  2566 . Also again, in some embodiments, it may also be that all task routines  2440  are to be executed within separate containers  2565  that are instantiated as part of a system for the allocation of processing, storage and/or other resources of one or more of the devices  2500  and/or  2600 . In such embodiments, it may be that any of a variety of coordinating mechanisms may be used to cause such a sequentially executed pair of task routines  2440  as the depicted task routines  2440   sf  and  2440   sg   2  to be executed within the same container  2565 , or to at least increase the likelihood of being executed within the same container  2565 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  17 H , as previously discussed, it may be that portion(s) of one or more objects of a job flow  2200  were originally written in a secondary programming language that differs from the primary programming language that is relied upon by the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  to perform job flows  2200 . In such situations, and as will be discussed in more detail, such portions of such objects may be translated from such a secondary programming language and to the primary programming language, and this may result in the generation of a translated form of each of such objects in which the portion(s) written in the secondary programming language are replaced with corresponding portions in the primary programming language. It may be deemed desirable to be able to trace where a translated form of an object came from by including an identifier of the original form of the object from which the translated form was generated. 
     More specifically, it may be that portions of the job flow definition  2220   fgh  introduced in  FIG.  17 A  were originally written in a secondary programming language as the job flow definition  2220   sfgh . As depicted, such portions may include the depicted interface definitions  2224   s  (which may include the organization definitions  2223   s ) and/or the GUI instructions  2229   sfgh . As depicted, such portions may be translated from the secondary programming language to the primary programming language that will be utilized during the performance  2700   afg   2   h  (e.g., the interface definitions  2224   s  and/or the GUI instructions  2229   sfgh  may be translated to generate the interface definitions  2224   p  and/or the GUI instructions  2229   pfg h, respectively). In so doing, a form of the job flow definition  2220   fgh  written in the primary programming language as the job flow definition  2220   pfg h may be generated from the secondary form  2220   sfgh . As a measure to enable accountability for the accuracy of the translation(s) that are so performed, the primary form  2220   pfg h may be generated to additionally include the job flow identifier  2221   sfgh  that identifies the secondary form  2220   sfgh . Additionally, it may be that the secondary form  2220   sfgh  is maintained in a federated area  2566  along with the primary form  2220   pfg h. 
     It may also be that other portions of the job flow definition  2220   sfgh  may be written in the secondary programming language in the sense that they are written as comments that are written in a manner that adheres to the syntax of the secondary programming languages as comments. Thus, while not actually including executable instructions, such other portions may still be regarded as having been written in the secondary programming language. As depicted, such other portions may include the depicted job flow identifier  2221   sfgh  and/or the flow definition  2225   s . As also depicted, such other portions may be translated from the secondary programming language to the primary programming language that will be utilized during the performance  2700   afg   2   h  (e.g., the job flow identifier  2221   sfgh  and/or the flow definition  2225   s  may be translated to generate the job flow identifier  2221   pfg h and/or the flow definition  2225   p , respectively). More precisely, the syntax of such portions may be translated from the syntax for comments written in the secondary programming language and into the syntax for comments written in the primary programming language. 
     Turning to  FIG.  17 I , as previously discussed, in some embodiments, the processing resources of multiple storage devices  2600  may be employed to perform a job flow (e.g., the job flow  2200   fgh ) as an approach to avoiding the transmission of a large data set (e.g., the flow input data set  2330   a ) from the multiple storage devices  2600  and to the one or more federated devices  2500  to enable the processing resources of the one or more federated devices  2500  to be so used. Again, making such use of the processing resources of the multiple storage devices  2600  may be deemed desirable to avoid incurring the overhead of transmitting such a large data set to one or more federated devices  2500 . More specifically, it may be that incurring such overhead overwhelms any benefit that may be realized by using what may be superior processing resources incorporated into the federated device(s)  2500 . 
     However, as also previously discussed, while such a large data set may be stored in a manner that spans multiple storage devices  2600  such that each of those multiple storage devices  2600  has local access to at least one block of that data set, other objects required to perform the job flow may be sufficiently small in size (e.g., smaller than a predetermined threshold storage size) that they may each have been stored as an undivided object within storage space provided by a single storage device  2600 . As a result, such smaller objects may be stored in just a subset of those multiple storage devices  2600 , and/or may be stored within still storage device(s)  2600  that do not store any of the blocks of the data set. Among such smaller objects may be smaller data objects, objects that define aspects of task(s) to be performed (e.g., a job flow definition  2220 ), and/or copies of routines required to cause and/or control the performance of either a single task or an entire job flow (e.g., the performance component  2544  of the control routine  2540 ). 
     To address such issues, the one or more federated devices  2500  may retrieve each of the other (smaller) objects required to perform the job flow, and may generate a container  2565  within which the one or more federated devices may include such other smaller objects (e.g., the job flow definition  2220   fgh  and one or more task routines, such as the task routine  2440   f , as depicted) within the container  2565 , along with a copy of such routines (e.g., the performance routine  2544 , as depicted). The one or more federated devices  2500  may then transmit a copy of the container  2565 , including all of such contents therein, to each of the multiple storage devices  2600  in which a block of the large data set is stored to enable the multiple storage devices  2600  to perform the job flow, at least partially in parallel, using the block(s) of the large data set locally stored within each as an input. 
     As has additionally been discussed, as a result of such at least partially parallel performances by each of the multiple storage devices  2600 , a block of data of another data set may be generated (e.g., the depicted data object block  2376   fg ) within each of the multiple storage devices  2600  for each block of the large data set that is stored therein (e.g., for each one of the depicted data object block  2336   d ). As part of storing the data object to which these newly generated blocks belong (e.g., the depicted mid-flow data set  2370   fg ), each of these newly generated blocks may be provided to the federated device(s)  2500  to be assembled together (e.g., in a reduction operation) to form a newly generated data object. The processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  may then analyze the resulting assembled data object to determine whether it is to be stored as an undivided object or in a distributed manner (e.g., whether its size is large enough to warrant being stored in a distributed manner). 
     As depicted, such a container  2565  that is distributed to each of the multiple storage devices  2600  may be stored within a federated area  2566  within each. Further, the at least partially parallel executions of the separate copies of the performance component  2544  and/or the task routine  2440  included within the copies of the container  2565  (e.g., the depicted task routine  2440   f ) may also be performed within their respective copies of the container  2565  within the respective federated areas  2566  within which they are stored. 
     Turning for  FIG.  17 J , a new job flow that employs neuromorphic processing (i.e., uses a neural network to implement a function) may be derived from an existing job flow that does not employ neuromorphic processing (i.e., does not use a neural network, and instead, uses the execution of a series of instructions to perform the function). This may be done as an approach to creating a new job flow that is able to be performed much more quickly (e.g., by multiple orders of magnitude) than an existing job flow by using a neural network in the new job flow to perform one or more tasks much more quickly than may be possible through the non-neuromorphic processing employed in the existing job flow. However, as those skilled in the art will readily recognize, such a neural network may need to be trained, and neuromorphic processing usually requires the acceptance of some degree of inaccuracy that is usually not present in non-neuromorphic instruction-based processing in which each step in the performance of a function is explicitly set forth with executable instructions. 
     Such training of a neural network of such a new job flow may entail the use of a training data set that may be assembled from data inputs and data outputs of one or more performances of an existing job flow. Such a training data set may then be used, through backpropagation and/or other neuromorphic training techniques, to train the neural network. Further, following such training, the degree of accuracy of the neural network in one or more performances of the new job flow may be tested by comparing data outputs of the existing and new job flows that are derived from identical data inputs provided to each. Presuming that the new job flow incorporating use of the neural network is deemed to be accurate enough to be put to use, there may still, at some later time, be an occasion where the functionality and/or accuracy of the new job flow and/or the neural network may be deemed to be in need of an evaluation. On such an occasion, as an aid to ensuring accountability for the development of the new job flow and/or the neural network, it may be deemed desirable to provide an indication of what earlier job flow(s) and/or data object(s) were employed in training and/or in testing the new job flow and/or the neural network. 
       FIG.  17 J  provides a view of aspects of an example job flow  2200   jk  that employs neuromorphic processing (i.e., employs one or more neural networks), an example job flow definition  2220   jk  that defines the job flow  2200   jk , an example performance  2700   ajk  of the job flow  2200   jk , and a corresponding example instance log  2720   ajk  that documents an instance of the performance  2700   ajk . This view is similar to the view provided by  FIG.  17 A  of aspects of the earlier discussed example job flow  2200   fgh  that does not employ neuromorphic processing (i.e., employs no neural networks), the job flow definition  2220   fgh  that defines the job flow  2200   fgh , the example performance  2700   afg   2   h  of the job flow  2200   fgh , and the example instance log  2720   afg   2   h  that documents one instance of the performance  2700   afg   2   h . As depicted in  FIG.  17 J , the job flow definition  2220   jk  may be defined to include a first task able to be performed by a task routine  2440   j  that entails the use of neural configuration data  2371   j , and a second task able to be performed by a task routine  2440   k . The task performable by the task routine  2440   j  may be that of using the neural network configuration data  2371   j  to instantiate a one or more neural networks (not specifically shown), and the task performable by the task routine  2440   k  may be that of using those one or more neural networks to cause the job flow  2200   jk  to perform the same function as the job flow  2200   fgh.    
     The neural network configuration data  2371   j  may define hyperparameters and/or trained parameters that define at least one neural network employed in the job flow  2200   jk  after the at least one neural network has been trained. By way of example, the neural network configuration data  2371   j  may define hyperparameters and/or trained parameters for each neural network in an ensemble of neural networks (e.g., a chain of neural networks). Regardless of how many neural networks are associated with the neural network configuration data  2371   j , the neural network configuration data  2371   j  may be deemed and/or handled as an integral part of the depicted example task routine  2440   j  for purposes of storage among one or more federated areas  2566 . In such embodiments, the executable instructions  2447  of the task routine  2440   j  may include some form of link (e.g., a pointer, identifier, etc.) that refers to the neural network configuration data  2371   j  as part of a mechanism to cause the retrieval and/or use of the neural network configuration data  2371   j  alongside the task routine  2440   j . Alternatively, in such embodiments, the task routine  2440   j  may wholly integrate the neural network configuration data  2371   j  as a form of directly embedded data structure. 
     However, in other embodiments, the neural network configuration data  2371   j  may be incorporated into and/or be otherwise treated as a mid-flow data set  2370   j  that may be stored among multiple data sets  2330  and/or  2370  within one or more federated areas  2566 , including being subject to at least a subset of the same rules controlling access thereto as are applied to any other data set  2330  and/or  2370 . In such other embodiments, the same techniques normally employed in selecting and/or specifying a data set  2330  or  2370  as an input to a task routine  2440  in a performance of a job flow  2200  may be used to specify the neural network configuration data  2371   j  as the mid-flow data set  2370   j  serving as an input to the task routine  2440   j . In this way, the at least one neural network defined by the configuration data  2371   j  may be given at least some degree of protection against deletion, may be made available for use in multiple different job flow flows (including other job flows that may perform further training of that at least one neural network that yield improved versions that may also be so stored), and/or may be documented within one or more instance logs as having been employed in one or more corresponding performances of job flows  2200 . 
     It should be noted that, although the neural network configuration data  2371   j  is depicted and discussed herein as being designated and treated as the depicted mid-flow data set  2370   j , this is in recognition of the possibility that, within a job flow  2200 , one task routine  2440  may generate, in a training process, the neural network configuration data  2371   j  as a mid-flow data set  2370   j  for use by another task routine  2440  within the same job flow  2200 . By way of example, a job flow  2200  may initially use the neural network configuration data  2371   j  as is, but may then cease that initial use and initiate a training mode in which the neural network configuration data  2371   j  is modified as a result of further training in response to a condition such as a failure to meet a threshold of accuracy during that initial use. However, other embodiments are possible in which the neural network configuration data  2371   j  is generated within one job flow  2200  for use by one or more other job flows  2200 , and/or is generated in an entirely different process that is not implemented as a job flow  2200  made up of multiple tasks that are performed by the execution of multiple task routines  2440 . Thus, other embodiments are possible in which the neural network configuration data  2371   j  may be more appropriately regarded as having been generated as a result report  2770  in the performance of a job flow  2200  and/or may be more appropriately regarded as a flow input data set  2330  to a job flow  2200 . 
     It should also be noted that, although a single instance of neural network configuration data  2371  has been discussed as being treated as a data object (e.g., a data set  2330  or  2370 , or a result report  2770 ), other embodiments are possible in which a single data object includes multiple instances of neural network configuration data  2371 . This may be deemed desirable as a mechanism to keep together the hyperparameters and/or the trained parameters of a set of multiple neural networks that are to be used together to perform a function, such as an ensemble of neural networks. More precisely, while it may be that each neural network of a set of multiple neural networks is trained separately and/or sequentially, it may be deemed necessary to ensure success in using those multiple neural networks together by keeping the neural network configuration data  2371  for each of those neural networks together. In this way, a situation in which the neural network configuration data  2371  for a subset of those neural networks is errantly deleted may be avoided, as well as avoiding a situation in which older and newer versions of the neural network configuration data  2371  for different ones of those multiple neural networks are errantly used together. 
     As also depicted in  FIG.  17 J , the job flow definition  2220   jk  of the example job flow  2200   jk  may include the job flow identifier  2221   fgh  as a form of link to the job flow definition  2220   fgh  that defines the example job flow  2200   fgh . Such a link to the job flow definition  2220   fgh  may be provided in the job flow definition  2220   jk  in a situation where one or more performances (i.e., the example performance  2700   afg   2   h ) of the job flow  2200   fgh  were used in training and/or in testing the at least one neural network of the job flow  2200   jk . Alternatively or additionally, the instance log  2720   ajk  that documents aspects of an instance of the example performance  2700   afk  of the example job flow  2200   jk  may include the instance log identifier  2721   afg   2   h  as a link to the instance log  2720   afg   2   h  that documents an instance of the performance  2700   afg   2   h . Such a link to the instance log  2720   afg   2   h  may be provided in the instance log  2720   ajk  in a situation where an instance of the performance  2700   afg   2   h  was used in training and/or in testing the at least one neural network of the job flow  2200   jk . Through the provision of such links, the fact that the job flow  2200   fgh  and/or the specific performance  2700   afg   2   h  was used in training and/or in testing the at least one neural network of the job flow  2200   jk  may be readily revealed, if at a later date, the job flow definition  2220   jk  and/or the instance log  2720   ajk  are retrieved and analyzed as part of a later evaluation of the job flow  2200   jk . In this way, some degree of accountability for how the at least one neural network of the job flow  2200   jk  was trained and/or tested may be ensured should such training and/or testing need to be scrutinized. 
     Referring to both  FIGS.  17 A and  17 J , as depicted, either or both of the example job flow definitions  2220   fgh  or  2220   jk  may additionally include GUI instructions  2229   fgh  or  2229   jk , respectively. As previously discussed, such GUI instructions  2229  incorporated into a job flow definition  2220  may provide instructions for execution by a processor to provide a job flow GUI during a performance of the corresponding job flow  2200 . As earlier discussed, a job flow definition  2220  may include flow task identifiers  2241  that identify the tasks to be performed, but not particular task routines  2440  to perform those tasks, as a mechanism to enable the most current versions of task routines  2440  to be used to perform the tasks. As also earlier discussed, a job flow definition  2220  may also define data interfaces  2223  in a way that specifies characteristics of the inputs and/or outputs for each task to be performed, but may not specify any particular data object  2330  as an approach to allowing data objects  2330  that are to be used as inputs to a performance to be specified at the time a performance is to begin. As processor(s)  2550  of federated device(s)  2500  are caused to execute instructions of task routines  2440  as part of performing a job flow  2200 , processor(s)  2550  of federate device(s)  2500  may also be caused, by execution of instructions of an interaction component  2548  of the control routine  2540 , to execute the GUI instructions  2229  within the corresponding job flow definition  2220  to provide a job flow GUI. 
     By way of example, through execution of GUI instructions  2229 , a job flow GUI may be provided that guides a user through an opportunity to specify one or more of the data objects  2330  that are to be used as inputs. Also by way of example, a job flow GUI may be provided to afford a user an opportunity to specify the use of one or more particular task routines  2440  as part of an effort to analyze the accuracy and/or other aspects of a performance of a job flow  2200 . Further by way of example, the GUI instructions  2229   jk , when executed, may provide a user an opportunity to specify the mid-flow data set  2370   j  or another data object  2330 ,  2370  or  2770  as the one that should be used to provide the neural network configuration data  2371   j  to be used to instantiate the at least one neural network to be used in a performance of the job flow  2200   jk.    
     Turning to  FIG.  17 K , as has been discussed, DAGs  2270  may be generated to provide visual representations of various objects, including to highlight various details thereof, such as error conditions preventing the storage and/or use of those objects. Again, such objects include task routines  2440 , job flow definitions  2220  and/or instance logs  2720 . As exemplified using the job flow definition  2220   fgh  and an associated DAG  2270   fgh , processor(s)  2550  of federated device(s) may be caused by execution of the interaction component  2548  of the control routine  2540  to generate a DAG  2270  to provide a visual representation of a job flow described by a job flow definition  2220 . Such a DAG  2270  may be generated from that job flow definition  2220  to include most, if not all, of the same pieces of information concerning that job flow as are needed within that job flow definition  2220  to enable the job flow definition  2220  to be used in a performance of the job flow. 
     Thus, as depicted, the DAG  2270   fgh  may be generated to include the job flow identifier  2221   fgh , the flow definition  2225  and the interface definitions  2224 , as does the job flow definition  2220   fgh , although the DAG  2270   fgh  may not include the GUI instructions  2229   fgh  that may be included within the job flow definition  2220   fgh . However, as also depicted, while the DAG  2270   fgh  may have much of the same content as the job flow definition  2220   fgh , the formatting and/or syntax of that content may differ therebetween. More specifically, the fact that the job flow definition  2220   fgh  is meant to be used in the performance of the job flow that it describes may lead to at least the interface definitions  2224  being written in a selected programming language (e.g., the SAS programming language), and may additionally lead to the job flow identifier  2221   fgh  and/or the flow definition  2225  being written to at least conform to the syntax used for comments in the same selected programming language. Also, the fact that the DAG  2270   fgh  is meant to be used to provide a visual representation of a job flow  2200  may lead to one or more of the job flow identifier  2221   fgh , the flow definition  2225  and the interface definitions  2224  being written in a selected form of notation for the description of processes (e.g., BPMN). However, it should be noted that other embodiments are possible in which the job flow definition  2220   fgh  and the DAG  2270   fgh  are written using the same language and syntax such that the job flow definition  2220   fgh  and the DAG  2270   fgh  may be directly interchangeable (although the DAG  2270   fgh  may be generated to include a subset of the contents of the job flow definition  2220   fgh , such that it may not include such items as the GUI instructions  2229   fgh ). Indeed, in some of such embodiments, it may be that the job flow definition  2220   fgh  and the DAG  2270   fgh  are one and the same object as stored within a federated area  2566 . 
     Regardless of whether the contents of job flow definitions  2220  and their corresponding DAGs  2270  are written in the same language, the fact that DAGs  2270  generated to provide visual representations of job flow definitions  2220  include many (if not all) of the same pieces of information may enable job flow definitions  2220  to be generated from such DAGs  2270  just as easily as such DAGs  2270  may be directly generated from job flow definitions  2220 . As will be explained in greater detail, advantage may be taken of this interchangeability between job flow definitions  2220  and such DAGs  2270  to enable new job flow definitions  2220  that describe entirely new job flows to be generated graphically by personnel who entirely lack programming skills. More specifically, a new job flow definition  2220  may be created by personnel though use of a graphical editor in which such personnel graphically create a DAG  2270  that may also serve as the new job flow definition  2220  or from which the new job flow definition  2220  may be automatically generated. In some of such embodiments, it may be that such a graphical editor is used to combine at least portions of multiple preexisting job flows to form a new job flow (e.g., the previously discussed “superset” job flow) as a DAG  2270  from which a corresponding job flow definition  2220  may be automatically generated. 
     Turning to  FIG.  17 L , in some embodiments, the interface definitions  2224  within the job flow definition  2220   fgh  may be derived as part of the generation of the DAG  2270   fgh  based on comments  2448  about the interfaces  2443 / 2444  and/or based on portions of the executable instructions  2447  that implement the interfaces  2443 / 2444  within the task routines  2440   f ,  2440   g   2  and  2440   h . More specifically, it may be that the job flow definition  2220   fgh  is at least partially generated from a parsing of comments  2448  and/or of portions of the executable instructions  2447  descriptive of the input and/or output interfaces  2443  and/or  2444  of one or more task routines  2440  that perform the functions of the job flow  2200   fgh  that the job flow definition  2220   fgh  is to define. 
     In some embodiments, and as depicted, information concerning interfaces  2443  and/or  2444  implemented within each of the task routines  2440   f ,  2440   g   2  and  2440   h  may be stored, at least temporarily, as macros  2470   f ,  2470   g   2  and  2470   h , respectively, although it should be noted that other forms of intermediate data structure may be used in providing intermediate storage of information concerning inputs and/or outputs. In some embodiments, this may be done to enable the transmission of information needed to generate the DAG  2270   fgh  in a more compact form to another device. With all of such data structures having been generated, the information within each that concerns interfaces  2443  and/or  2444  may then be used to generate the DAG  2270   fgh  to include the interface definitions  2224 . And it may be that, from the interface definitions  2224 , at least a portion of the flow definition  2225  is able to be derived. 
       FIGS.  18 A,  18 B,  18 C,  18 D,  18 E and  18 F , together, illustrate the manner in which the one or more federated devices  2500  may selectively store and organize objects within one or more federated areas  2566 .  FIGS.  18 A-C , together, illustrate aspects of the selective translation or conversion, of objects received from one or more source devices  2100 , or from one or more reviewing devices  2800 , as well as storage of those objects within the one or more federated areas  2566 .  FIGS.  18 D-F , together, illustrate aspects of assigning identifiers to objects stored within the one or more federated areas  2566 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  18 A , as previously discussed, the one or more federated devices  2500  may receive objects (e.g., job flow definitions  2220 , DAGs  2270 , flow input data sets  2330 , mid-flow data sets  2370 , task routines  2440 , macros  2470 , instance logs  2720  and/or result reports  2770 ) from other devices  2100  and/or  2800  as part of an exchange of objects in response to a request to perform any of a variety of operations. Again, in executing the portal component  2549 , the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused to operate one or more of the network interfaces  2590  to provide a portal accessible by other devices via the network  2999 , and through which access may be granted by the processor(s)  2550  to the one or more federated areas  2566 . Also again, any of a variety of network and/or other protocols may be used. Such requests may include requests to store one or more objects transmitted therewith and/or for which pointer(s) may be transmitted therewith; and/or requests to perform one or more job flows and/or one or more individually specified tasks using one or more objects transmitted therewith and/or for which pointer(s) may be transmitted therewith. 
     Alternatively, and as also previously discussed, the one or more federated devices  2500  may receive objects as a result of an ongoing synchronization relationship instantiated between one or more transfer areas  2666  within one or more federated areas  2566  and one or more other transfer areas  2166  or  2866  within a storage  2160  or  2860 , respectively. For each such transfer area  2666 , the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused by the federated area component  2546  to refer to the federated area parameters  2536  for parameters in instantiating the transfer area  2666  within a federated area  2566 , such as minimum and/or maximum size of the transfer area  2666  and/or minimum or maximum percentage of the space within a federated area  2566  that is to be occupied by the transfer area  2666 . Other parameters that may be retrieved from the federated area parameters  2536  may be specifications of one or more types of cooperation that may be used with the other device  2100  or  2800  with which a synchronization relationship is instantiated, such as whether the earlier described polling or volunteering approaches are to be used, and/or at what minimum and/or maximum interval of time is to be allowed to elapse between each instance of exchange of status of objects within transfer areas. Other parameters that may be so retrieved may include specifications of a minimum or maximum quantity of objects to be exchanged when a transfer between transfer areas occurs. 
     Still another parameter concerning exchanges of objects between a transfer area  2666  within a federated area  2566  and a transfer area  2166  or  2866  within a storage  2160  or  2860 , respectively, that may be retrieved from the federated area parameters  2536  may be a specification for what minimum conditions must be met for such an automated transfer of objects to be triggered. In some embodiments, the trigger may be one or more of a minimum degree of change in an object (e.g., a minimum percent change in size of a data object or a minimum extent of change in executable instructions of a task routine  2440 ), and/or a minimum number of objects that must be involved in a change in status. Alternatively or additionally, in other embodiments, the trigger for such an automated transfer may be a maximum amount of time to allow to elapse until the next exchange of object(s) since the detection of a change in status of any object. 
     Alternatively or additionally, and by way of example in still other embodiments, the trigger may be associated with occurrences of objects being “checked in” and/or “committed” in a formalized source code management system. More specifically, and as will be familiar to those skilled in the art, where multiple developers are collaborating to develop programming code for an analysis or other type of executable program, a source code management system may be put into place to improve coordination thereamong. Such a source code management system may enforce some degree of control over which developer and/or how many developers may be work with each one of different portions of executable instructions at the same time as a proactive measure to avoid having different developers making conflicting changes to the same portion of executable instructions. A developer may be required to “check out” a portion of executable instructions from the source control management system to be allowed to make changes thereto, and this may serve to cause other developers to be prevented from also checking out that same portion until the developer to which that portion is check out subsequently “checks in” that same portion. Alternatively or additionally, such a source code management system may track the changes made to different portions of executable instructions by different developers as a way to provide the ability to roll back changes made by any one developer to a portion of executable instructions that is found to “break” the ability to compile and/or interpret the executable instructions of the analysis or other routine. There may be a compiling of the executable instructions of the analysis or other routine on a recurring interval of time which may be used as a mechanism to identify changed portions of executable instructions that at least do not break the compiling of the full set of executable instructions such that they are deemed acceptable to remain as part of the full set of executable instructions such that those changes are deemed to be “committed” changes to the full set of executable instructions. 
     It may be that a portion of the storage  2160  of a source device  2100  or a portion the storage  2860  of a reviewing device  2800  is employed as the storage at which a source code management system maintains a copy of all of the executable instructions of an analysis routine or other routine under development by multiple developers who do not use the one or more federated area(s)  2566  maintained by the one or more federated devices  2500 . Such developers may not have been granted access to a federated area  2566  and/or they may not be familiar with the use of federated areas  2566 . Meanwhile, there may also be other developers also involved in developing the same analysis or other routine who do have access to and/or are familiar with the one or more federated areas  2566  maintained by the one or more federated devices  2500 . Such other developers may at least partly rely on the enforcement of rules for the storage of objects in federated areas  2566  as a mechanism to similarly instill a degree of order in their collaboration among themselves in developing portions of the analysis or other routine. Thus, in this example embodiment, there may be two different sets of developers collaborating on the development of the same analysis or other routine who are using two separate systems of source code management to aid in coordinating their efforts. 
     As part of enabling collaboration between these two different groups of developers, as well as their differing systems of source code management, the portion of the storage  2160  or  2860  of the device  2100  or  2800  within which the source code management system maintains a copy of all of the executable instructions may be additionally designated as one or more transfer areas  2166  or  2866 , respectively. Correspondingly, at least a portion of one or more federated areas  2566  that have been designated as the location in which portions of the executable instructions of the analysis or other routine may also be stored may each be similarly designated as a transfer area  2666 , and a synchronization relationship may be instantiated between each such transfer area  2666  and a counterpart other transfer area  2166  or  2866 . With these transfer areas and their synchronization relationship(s) having been instantiated, it may be that the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  are caused to cooperate with the processor(s)  2150  of the device  2100  in which the transfer area(s)  2166  are instantiated, or the processor(s) of the device  2800  in which the transfer area(s)  2866  are instantiated, to use instances in which changes to portions of executable instructions have been “committed” or at least “checked in” as a trigger to cause the transfer of the affected object(s) (e.g., job flow definitions  2220  and/or task routines  2440  that contain the changed executable instructions) between a transfer area  2666  and a corresponding other transfer area  2166  or  2866 , respectively. In this way, collaboration among these two different groups of developers may be enabled through collaboration between the systems that each relies upon to coordinate their development efforts in this example embodiment. 
     As also previously discussed, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may selectively allow or disallow each received request (including a requests to instantiate a synchronization relationship) based on determinations of whether each of those requests is authorized. Again, and more precisely, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused by the portal component  2549  to restrict what persons, devices and/or entities are to be given access to one or more federated areas  2566 . It should be noted that, in alternate embodiments, such control over whether access is granted may be exerted by another device (not shown) that may be interposed between the one or more federated devices  2500  and the network  2999  to serve as a gateway that controls access to the one or more federated devices  2500 , and thereby, controls access to the one or more federated areas. 
     Beyond selective granting of access to the one or more federated areas  2566  (in embodiments in which the one or more federated devices  2500  control access thereto), the processor(s)  2550  may be further caused by execution of the portal component  2549  to restrict the types of access granted, depending on the identity of the user to which access has been granted. Again, the portal data  2539  may indicate that different persons and/or different devices associated with a particular scholastic, governmental or business entity are each to be allowed different degrees and/or different types of access. One such person or device may be granted access to retrieve objects from within a federated area  2566 , but may not be granted access to alter or delete objects, while another particular person operating a particular device may be granted a greater degree of access that allows such actions. In embodiments in which there is a per-object control of access, the one or more federated devices  2500  (or the one or more other devices that separately control access) may cooperate with the one or more storage devices  2600  (if present) to effect such per-object access control. 
     Regardless of the exact manner in which objects may be received by the one or more federated devices from other devices, and as also previously discussed, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused by the admission component  2542  to impose various restrictions on what objects may be stored within a federated area  2566 , presuming that the processor(s)  2550  have been caused by the portal component  2549  to grant access in response to the received request to store objects. Some of such restrictions may be based on dependencies between objects and may advantageously automate the prevention of situations in which one object stored in a federated area  2566  is rendered nonfunctional as a result of another object having not been stored within the same federated area  2566  or within a federated area  2566  that is related through an inheritance relationship such that it is unavailable. 
     By way of example, and as previously explained, such objects as job flow definitions  2220  include references to tasks to be performed. In some embodiments, it may be deemed desirable to prevent a situation in which there is a job flow definition  2220  stored within a federated area  2566  that describes a job flow that cannot be performed as a result of there being no task routines  2440  stored within the same federated area  2566  and/or within a related federated area  2566  that are able to perform one or more of the tasks specified in the job flow definition  2220 . Thus, where a request is received to store a job flow definition  2220 , the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the admission component  2542  to first determine whether there is at least one task routine  2440  stored within the same federated area  2566  and/or within a related federated area  2566  to perform each task specified in the job flow definition. If there isn&#39;t, then the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the admission component  2542  to disallow storage of that job flow definition  2220  within that federated area  2566 , at least until such missing task routine(s)  2440  have been stored therein and/or within a related federated area  2566  from which they would be accessible through an inheritance relationship. In so doing, and as an approach to improving ease of use, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused to transmit an indication of the reason for the refusal to inform an operator of the source device  2100  of what can be done to remedy the situation. 
     Also by way of example, and as previously explained, such objects as instance logs  2720  include references to such other objects as a job flow definition, task routines executed to perform tasks, and data objects employed as inputs and/or generated as outputs. In some embodiments, it may also be deemed desirable to avoid a situation in which there is an instance log  2720  stored within a federated area  2566  that describes a performance of a job flow that cannot be repeated as a result of the job flow definition  2220 , one of the task routines  2440 , or one of the data objects referred to in the instance log  2720  not being stored within the same federated area  2566  and/or within a related federated area  2566  from which they would also be accessible. Such a situation may entirely prevent a review of a performance of a job flow. Thus, where a request is received to store an instance log  2720 , the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused by the admission component  2542  to first determine whether all of the objects referred to in the instance log  2720  are stored within the same federated area  2566  and/or a related federated area  2566  in which they would also be accessible, thereby enabling a repeat performance using all of the objects referred to in the instance log  2720 . If there isn&#39;t then the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the admission component  2542  to disallow storage of that instance log  2720  within that federated area  2566 , at least until such missing object(s) have been stored therein and/or within a related federated area  2566 . Again, as an approach to improving ease of use, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused to transmit an indication of the reason for the refusal to inform an operator of the source device  2100  of what can be done to remedy the situation, including identifying the missing objects. 
     Additionally by way of example, and as previously explained, such objects as job flow definitions  2220  may specify various aspects of interfaces among task routines, and/or between task routines and data objects. In some embodiments, it may be deemed desirable to prevent a situation in which the specification in a job flow definition  2220  of an interface for any task routine that may be selected to perform a specific task does not match the manner in which that interface is implemented in a task routine  2440  that may be selected for execution to perform that task. Thus, where a request is received to store a combination of objects that includes both a job flow definition  2220  and one or more associated task routines  2440 , the processor(s)  2550  may be caused to compare the specifications of interfaces within the job flow definition  2220  to the implementations of those interfaces within the associated task routines  2440  to determine whether they sufficiently match. Alternatively or additionally, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused to perform such comparisons between the job flow definition  2220  that is requested to be stored and one or more task routines  2440  already stored within one or more federated areas  2566 , and/or to perform such comparisons between each of the task routines  2440  that are requested to be stored and one or more job flow definitions  2220  already stored within one or more federated areas  2566 . If the processor(s)  2550  determine that there is an insufficient match, then the processor(s)  2550  may be caused to disallow storage of the job flow definition  2220  and/or of the one or more associated task routines  2440 . In so doing, and as an approach to improving ease of use, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused to transmit an indication of the reason for the refusal to inform an operator of the source device  2100  of what can be done to remedy the situation, including providing details of the insufficiency of the match. 
     As previously discussed, macros  2470  and DAGs  2270  may be generated from information concerning the inputs and/or outputs of one or more task routines  2440  such that, like a job flow definition  2200  and/or an instance log  2720 , each macro  2470  and each DAG  2270  is associated with one or more task routines  2440 . As a result of such associations, it may be deemed desirable to ensure that further analysis of the information within each macro  2470  and/or DAG  2270  is enabled by requiring that the one or more task routines  2440  from which each is derived be available within a federated area  2566  to be accessed. More specifically, in executing the admission component  2542 , the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused to impose restrictions on the storage of macros  2470  and/or DAGs  2270  that may be similar to those just discussed for the storage of job flow definitions  2200  and/or instance logs  2720 . Thus, in response to a request to store one or more macros  2470  and/or one or more DAGs  2270 , the processor(s)  2550  may first be caused to determine whether the task routine(s)  2440  on which the information concerning inputs and/or outputs within each macro  2470  and/or within each DAG  2270  may be based is stored within a federated area  2566  or is provided for storage along with each 2470 and/or each DAG  2270  for storage. Storage of a macro  2470  or of a DAG  2270  may be refused if such associated task routine(s)  2440  are not already so stored and are also not provided along with the macro  2470  or DAG  2270  that is requested to be stored. 
     Regardless of the exact manner in which a transfer of objects between devices and through the network  2999  is caused to occur, it should be noted that, depending on whether grids or other groups of devices are on either end of the transfer, some degree of parallelism may be employed in carrying out the transfer. More specifically, at least where an object is being transferred to or transferred from multiple ones of the federated devices  2500  (e.g., a grid  2005  of the federated devices  2500 ) as a result of a federated area  2566  being maintained in a distributed manner by multiple federated devices  2500 , the transfer of the single object may be broken up into separate and at least partially parallel transfers of different portions of the object to or from the multiple federated devices  2500 . This may be deemed desirable for the transfer of larger objects, such as data objects (e.g., an flow input data set  2330  or a result report  2770 ) that may be quite large in size. Further, in embodiments in which grids of devices are involved in both ends of a transfer of an object, it may be that the transfer is performed as multiple transfers of portions of the object in which each such portion is transferred between a different pair of devices More precisely and by way of example, where a source device  2100  that transmitted a request to store an object in a federated area  2566  is operated as part of a grid of the source devices  2100 , the granting of access to store an object in the federated area  2566  may result in each of multiple source devices  2100  transmitting a different portion of the object to a different one of multiple federated devices  2500  in at least partially parallel transfers. 
     Turning to  FIG.  18 B , regardless of the exact manner in which the one or more federated devices  2500  are caused to receive objects, and as previously discussed, it may be that some received objects include portions that are written in one or more secondary programming languages, instead of in the primary programming language normally utilized by the processor(s)  2550  during a performance of a job flow. More specifically, among the received objects may be task routines  2440  in which at least executable instructions for the performance of a task may be written in a secondary programming language, and/or job flow definitions  2220  in which at least portion(s) thereof that define input and/or output interfaces may be written in a secondary programming language. As has been previously discussed, task routines  2440  that include such portions written in a secondary programming language may be stored unchanged within federated area(s), and their executable instructions may later be interpreted and/or compiled by an appropriate runtime interpreter or compiler at the time of their execution. 
     However, and as also previously discussed, where a job flow definition  2220   s  is received that includes at least input and/or output interface definitions written in a secondary programming language, it may be deemed desirable to generate a translated form  2220   p  thereof in which those definitions are written in the primary programming language, and to store that translated form  2220   p  within a federated area in lieu of the originally received form  2220   s . Again, this may be done to provide developers who are familiar with the primary programming language with a form of the job flow definition  2220   s  that is written in the primary programming language to improved the ease with which they are able to read and/or edit the job flow that is defined therein. 
     As previously discussed, in some embodiments, as part of performing various comparisons of definitions for and/or implementations of input and/or output interfaces, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused by the admission component  2542  to translate each portion of each job flow definition  2220  that defines input and/or output interfaces, and each portion of executable instructions of each task routine that implements input and/or output interfaces, into an intermediate representation, such as an intermediate programming language or a data structure. Thus, upon receipt of the depicted job flow definition  2220   s , the portion(s) thereof that define input and/or output interfaces using a secondary programming language may already be translated into an intermediate representation for purposes of making such comparisons. In such embodiments, the processor(s) may be further caused by the interpretation component  2547  to further translate that intermediate representation into the primary programming language as part of generating the corresponding input and/or output interface definitions for the job flow definition  2220   p  that is generated as the translated form of the originally received job flow definition  2220   s.    
     As previously discussed, job flow definitions  2220  may be derived from DAGs  2270  and/or vice versa. As also previously discussed, embodiments are possible in which different DAGs  2270  may be generated in different languages, and such different languages may be the same differing programming languages as used in portions of job flow definitions  2220 , or such different languages may be differing forms of notation (e.g., BPMN versus other forms of notation) that may each be associated with a different programming language and/or a different development environment. Thus, like job flow definitions  2220 , it may be that DAGs  2270  exchanged between the one or more federated devices  2500  and another device  2100  or  2800  may also be at least partially translated such that, as depicted, for a DAG  2270   s  stored within a transfer area  2166  or  2866  within a storage  2160  or  2860 , respectively, that employs a secondary programming language or secondary form of notation, there may be a corresponding DAG  2270   p  stored within a transfer area  2666  within a federated area  2566  that employs a primary programming language or primary form of notation to provide the same view of the same job flow  2200 , of the same instance of performance of a job flow  2200 , of the same task and/or of the same task routine  2440 . 
     The processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused by the interpretation component  2547  to retrieve various rules and/or other parameters for the performance of translations between programming language(s) from the interpretation rules  2537 . Among such rules and/or parameters may be a data structure providing a cross-reference of items of vocabulary between the primary programming language and each of one or more secondary programming languages, and/or a data structure providing a cross-reference of items of syntax therebetween (e.g., punctuation, use of spacing, ordering of commands and/or data, etc.). Alternatively or additionally, among such rules and/or parameters may be a specification of the manner in which the organization of data within data objects that is to be used in either defining input and/or output interfaces in job flow definitions or implementing input and/or output interfaces in task routines. 
     Turning to  FIG.  18 C , also regardless of the exact manner in which the one or more federated devices  2500  are caused to receive objects, and as also previously discussed, it may be that a received data object, such as the depicted example flow input data set  2330 , is of a size that is sufficiently large that it may not be possible (or at least, may be deemed undesirable and/or prohibitively difficult) to store all of it within a single storage device  2600  as an undivided object. Again, where such a data object is of such large size, it may be divided into multiple data object blocks as part of storing it in a distributed manner across multiple storage devices  2600   a - x  within a federated area  2566  that spans storage spaces provided by the multiple storage devices  2600   a - x  within a distributed file system  2664  implemented by at least the multiple storage devices  2600   a - x . Again, in some embodiments, still another storage device  2600   z  may be employed to coordinate the maintenance of the distributed file system  2664 , as well as to coordinate the use of the storage space encompassed by the distributed file system  2664  with the one or more federated devices  2500 . 
     As previously discussed, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused by the admission component  2542  to compare the size of the flow input data set  2330  to a predetermined threshold storage size as part of determining whether the flow input data set is large enough to be divided into multiple blocks for storage. If not, then the processor(s)  2550  may be caused simply to cooperate with one of the storage devices  2600   a - x  to store the flow input data set  2330  therein as an undivided object therein. 
     However, if the flow input data set  2330  is larger than the predetermined threshold storage size, then the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may analyze the flow input data set  2330  to determine whether it is in a distributable form in which it does not include a distinct metadata structure (e.g., the depicted metadata  2338 ), in which the data items are organized in a homogeneous manner throughout (e.g., a single two-dimensional array), and/or in which the homogeneous organization of the data items is of one of a preselected set of types of homogeneous organization. If flow input data set  2330  is determined to already be in distributable form (such that the depicted distributable form  2330   d  and the originally received form  2330  are one and the same), then the processor(s)  2550  may be caused simply to cooperate with the storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z  to store the flow input data set  2330 , as received, as the distributable form  2330   d  in a distributed manner in which the storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z  divide the flow input data set  2330  into the depicted multiple data object blocks  2336   d  that are distributed thereamong for storage. 
     However, if the flow input data set  2330  is both larger than the predetermined threshold storage size and not in distributable form, then the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by execution of the admission component  2542  and/or the interpretation component  2547  to convert the flow input data set  2330  from its originally received form and into the flow input data set  2330   d  of distributable form. In so doing, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused to refer to the interpretation rules  2537  for rules concerning the interpretation of any metadata that may be present within the flow input data set  2330  in its original form, and/or for rules concerning conversions from the manner in which the data items may be organized in the original form and into a homogeneous manner of organization of the data items in the distributable form (e.g., a conversion between differing data structures, such as arrays, linked lists, comma-separated values, etc.). With the flow input data set  2330  so converted into the distributable form  2330   d , the processor(s)  2550  may then be caused to cooperate with the storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z  to store the flow input data set  2330   d  of distributable form in a distributed manner among the storage devices  2600   a - x.    
     Turning to  FIG.  18 D , as depicted, the control routine  2540  may include an identifier component  2541  to cause the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  to assign identifiers to objects stored within the one or more federated areas  2566 . As previously discussed, each instance log  2720  may refer to objects associated with a performance of a job flow (e.g., a job flow definition  2220 , task routines  2440 , and/or data objects used as inputs and/or generated as outputs, such as the data sets  2330  and/or  2370 , and/or a result report  2770 ) by identifiers assigned to each. Also, as will shortly be explained, the assigned identifiers may be employed as part of an indexing system in one or more data structures and/or databases to more efficiently retrieve such objects. In some embodiments, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused by the identifier component  2541  to assign identifiers to objects as they area received via the network  2999  from other devices, such as the one or more source devices  2100  and/or the one or more reviewing devices  2800 . In other embodiments, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the identifier component  2541  to assign identifiers to objects generated as a result of a performance of a job flow (e.g., a mid-flow data set  2370  or a result report  2770  generated as an output data object of a task routine). 
     In some embodiments, an object identifier may be generated by taking a hash of at least a portion of its associated object to generate a hash value that becomes the identifier. More specifically, a job flow identifier  2221  may be generated by taking a hash of at least a portion of the corresponding job flow definition  2220 ; a data object identifier  2331  may be generated by taking a hash of at least a portion of the corresponding data set  2330  or  2370 ; a task routine identifier  2441  may be generated by taking a hash of at least a portion of the corresponding task routine  2440 ; and/or a result report identifier  2771  may be generated by taking a hash of at least a portion of the corresponding result report  2770 . Any of a variety of hash algorithms familiar to those skilled in the art may be employed. Such an approach to generating identifiers may be deemed desirable as it may provide a relatively simple mechanism to generate identifiers that are highly likely to be unique to each object, presuming that a large enough portion of each object is used as the basis for each hash taken and/or each of the identifiers is of a large enough bit width. In some embodiments, the size of the portions of each of these different objects of which a hash is taken may be identical. Alternatively or additionally, the bit widths of the resulting hash values that become the identifiers  2221 ,  2331 ,  2441  and  2771  may be identical. 
     Such an approach to generating object identifiers  2221 ,  2331 ,  2441  and/or  2771  may advantageously be easily implemented by devices other than the one or more federated devices  2500  to reliably generate identifiers for objects that are identical to the identifiers generated by the processor(s)  2550  of any of the one or more federated devices  2500 . Thus, if a job flow is performed by another device that is external to the distributed processing system  2000 , the instance log  2720  generated by that other device would use identifiers to refer to the objects associated with that performance that would be identical to the identifiers that would have been generated by the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  to refer to those same objects. As a result, such an instance log  2720  could be received by the one or more federated devices  2500  and stored within a federated area  2566  without the need to derive new identifiers to replace those already included within that instance log  2720  to refer to objects associated with a performance of a job flow. 
     Referring to  FIG.  18 A  in addition to  FIG.  18 D , in some embodiments, the identifier component  2541  may cooperate with the admission component  2542  in causing the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  to analyze received objects to determine compliance with various restrictions as part of determining whether to allow those objects to be stored within the one or more federated areas  2566 . More specifically, and by way of example, the identifier component  2541  may generate object identifiers for each received object. The provision of object identifiers for each received object may enable the admission component  2542  to cause the processor(s)  2550  to check whether the objects specified in a received instance log  2720  are available among the other objects received along with the received instance log  2720 , as well as whether the objects specified in the received instance log  2720  are available as already stored within one or more of the federated areas  2566 . If an object referred to in the received instance log  2720  is neither among the other objects received therewith or among the objects already stored within one or more of the federated area  2566 , then the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the admission component  2542  to disallow storage of the received instance log  2720  within the one or more federated areas  2566 . As previously discussed, disallowing the storage of an instance log  2720  for such reasons may be deemed desirable to prevent storage of an instance log  2720  that describes a performance of a job flow that cannot be repeated due to one or more of the objects associated with that performance being missing. 
     Turning to  FIG.  18 E , in some embodiments, the generation of identifiers for instance logs  2720  may differ from the generation of identifiers for other objects. More specifically, while the identifiers  2221 ,  2331 ,  2441  and  2771  may each be derived by taking a hash of at least a portion of its corresponding object, an instance log identifier  2721  for an instance log  2720  may be derived from at least a portion of each of the identifiers for the objects that are associated with the instance of performance that an instance log  2720  serves to document. Thus, as depicted, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused by the identifier component  2541  to generate an instance log identifier  2721  for an instance of a performance of a job flow  2200  by concatenating at least a portion of a job flow identifier  2221  for the job flow definition  2220  for the job flow  2200 ; one or more data object identifiers  2331  for the flow input data set(s)  2330  and/or mid-flow data set(s)  2370  that were used as inputs and/or were generated; one or more task routine identifiers  2441  for the task routine(s)  2440  that were executed; one or more result report identifiers  2771  for the result report(s)  2770  that were generated; and/or the job flow instance identifier  2701  that uniquely identifies the instance of the performance of the job flow  2200 . In embodiments in which the bit widths of each of the identifiers  2221 ,  2331 ,  2441 ,  2771  and  2701  are identical, log identifiers  2721  may be formed from identically sized portions of each of such identifiers  2221 ,  2331 ,  2441 ,  2771  and/or  2701 , regardless of the quantity of each of the identifiers  2221 ,  2331 ,  2441 ,  2771  and/or  2701  that are used. Such use of identically sized portions of such identifiers  2221 ,  2331 ,  2441 ,  2771  and/or  2701  may be deemed desirable to aid in limiting the overall bit widths of the resulting log identifiers  2721 . 
       FIG.  18 F  illustrates such a concatenation of identifiers in greater detail using identifiers of objects associated with the example job flow  2200   fgh  and the example performance  2700   afg   2   h  earlier discussed in connection with  FIGS.  17 A-D . As depicted, after having generated a job flow identifier  2221   fgh , a data set identifier  2331   a , a task routine identifier  2441   f , a task routine identifier  2441   g   2 , a task routine identifier  2441   h  and a result report identifier  2771   afg   2   h  for the example job flow definition  2220   fgh , the data set  2330   a , the task routine  2440   f , the task routine  2440   g   2 , the task routine  2440   h  and the result report  2770   afg   2   h , respectively, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the identifier component  2541  to concatenate at least an identically sized portion of each of these identifiers together to form the single instance log identifier  2721   afg   2   h  for the example instance log  2720   afg   2   h  of  FIGS.  17 A-D . As also depicted, in some embodiments, the job flow instance identifier  2701  that uniquely identifies the particular instance of the performance  2700   afg   2   h  (and that may also be caused to be generated by the identifier component  2541 ) may also be included in such a concatenation to form the instance log identifier  271   afg   2   h.    
     Referring back to  FIGS.  18 D-E , an object location identifier  2222 ,  2332 ,  2442 ,  2722  or  2772  may be also be generated along with an object identifiers  2221 ,  2331 ,  2441 ,  2721  or  2771 , respectively, for at least each object that is stored within a federated area  2566 . While the object identifiers  2221 ,  2331 ,  2441 ,  2721  and  2771  may serve to uniquely identify each object, the object location identifiers  2222 ,  2332 ,  2442 ,  2722  and  2772  may serve to identify where each object is stored in the storage space(s) provided by the one or more federated devices  2500  and/or by the one or more storage devices  2600 . In some embodiments, each of the object location identifiers  2222 ,  2332 ,  2442 ,  2722  and  2772  may provide just an indication of what federated area  2566  an associated object is stored within, and an entirely separate mechanism may be employed to provide an indication of which one(s) of the one or more federated device(s)  2500  and/or which one(s) of the one or more storage device(s)  2600  provide storage space that is occupied by at least a portion of that federated area  2566 . 
     However, in other embodiments, each of the object location identifiers  2222 ,  2332 ,  2442 ,  2722  and  2772  may directly provide both an indication of what federated area  2566  an associated object is stored within, and an indication of which one(s) of the one or more federated device(s)  2500  and/or which one(s) of the one or more storage device(s)  2600  provide storage space that is occupied by at least a portion of the associated object. It should be noted that, as previously discussed, even though a federated area  2566  may occupy storage spaces provided by multiple devices  2500  and/or  2600 , an object may be stored within that federated area  2566  in a manner in which it does not occupy all of those storage spaces provided by all of those multiple devices  2500  and/or  2600 . Therefore, the indication provided in each object location identifier  2222 ,  2332 ,  2442 ,  2722  or  2772  of which device(s)  2500  and/or  2600  store at least a portion of the associated object may be a subset of the devices  2500  and/or  2600  that provide storage space for the federated area  2566  in which the associated object is stored. 
     Additionally, and as will be explained in greater detail, there may be various aspects of the manner in which an object may be stored as undivided object within the storage space provided by a single device  2500  or  2600 , and/or in a distributed manner across storage spaces provided by multiple devices  2500  and/or  2600 , and one or more of these aspects may affect the manner in which that object is able to be subsequently accessed. By way of example, and as previously discussed, the federated area  2566  in which an object is stored may be defined to exist within a storage space provided by just a single device  2500  or  2600 , but within either a local file system  2663  or a distributed file system  2664 , which may affect the manner in which the single device  2500  or  2600  is communicated with as part of accessing that object. By way of another example, and as also previously discussed, the federated area  2566  in which an object is stored may be defined to exist such that it spans across storage spaces provided by multiple devices  2500  and/or  2600  within a distributed file system  2664 , but with the object being stored within that federated area  2566  as either an undivided object that occupies storage space within just a single one of those devices  2500  and/or  2600  or in a distributed manner that occupies storage space within some or all of those storage spaces, which may determine whether one or more of those devices  2500  and/or  2600  must be communicated with as part of accessing that object. 
     In some embodiments, to enable such aspects of the storage of an object to be taken into account, indications of such aspects may be included in its associated object location identifier  2222 ,  2332 ,  2442 ,  2722  or  2772  for use in a subsequent retrieval of the object. Therefore, and referring back to  FIGS.  18 C-D  as an example, the conversion of the flow input data set  2330  into its distributable form  2330   d  and the subsequent storage of the distributable form  2330   d  as the multiple data object blocks  2336   d , as depicted in  FIG.  18 C , may be followed by the storage, within one of the data object location identifiers  2332  depicted in  FIG.  18 D , of indications of the flow input data set  2330  having been stored in a distributed manner as the multiple data object blocks  2336   d  across multiple devices  2500   a - x  or  2600   a - x , along with indications of which ones of the multiple devices  2500   a - x  or  2600   a - x  the multiple data object blocks  2336   d  are stored within. 
     Alternatively or additionally, and also referring back to at least  FIG.  18 D , it may be that at least identifiers for individual ones of the data object blocks  2336   d  of a data set  2330 / 2370  stored in distributed form are stored as data block identifiers  2335 . Correspondingly, it may be that at least identifiers for individual ones of data object blocks  2776   d  (not specifically shown) of a result report  2770  stored in distributed form are stored as result block identifiers  2775 . Such block identifiers  2335  and/or  2775  may provide a mechanism to individually identify the blocks of data into which a very large data set  2330 / 2370 , and/or a very large result report  2770 , respectively, may be divided in preparation for distributed storage within a federated area  2566 . Alternatively or additionally, and as will be explained in greater detail, such block identifiers  2335  or  2775  may enable individual ones of such blocks of data to be more easily separately identified when assigned to be inputs to separate ones of multiple instances of a single task routine  2440  that are executed at least partially in parallel to perform identical operations across multiple ones of such blocks of data. 
     The exact type of information that is included in each block identifier  2335  or  2775  may differ across various embodiments. In some embodiments, each of the block identifiers  2335  or  2775  may include a specification of an address for the set of storage locations at which the first bit, byte, word, doubleword, etc. of its corresponding block of data may be located within a federated area  2566 . Alternatively or additionally, it may be that each of the block identifiers  2335  or  2775  specifies an offset of the set of storage locations of the first bit, byte, word, doubleword, etc. of its corresponding block of data relative to the first bit, byte, word, doubleword, etc. of the storage locations of the first block of data. Also alternatively or additionally, where a data set  2330 / 2370  or result report  2770  has a homogenous interior organization of data items that includes just a single data structure employing an index system to access identically-sized sets of data values (e.g., rows of data values within a 2D array data structure), it may be that each of the block identifiers  2335  or  2775  includes an index value specifying the first set of data values of its corresponding block of data. Still other approaches to specifying, within each block identifier  2335  or  2775 , the storage locations at which each block of data is stored will occur to those skilled in the art. 
       FIGS.  19 A,  19 B,  19 C,  19 D,  19 E,  19 F and  19 G , together, illustrate aspects of organizing objects within federated areas to better enable the retrieval of objects for use.  FIG.  19 A  depicts aspects of organizing objects into databases within federated areas  2566 .  FIG.  19 B  depicts aspects of a single global index that covers all federated areas  2566  within the example hierarchical tree earlier introduced in  FIGS.  16 B-C , and  FIG.  19 C  depicts aspects of multiple side-by-side indexes for each private federated area  2566  within the same example hierarchical tree.  FIG.  19 D  illustrates aspects of selective retrieval of objects from one or more federated areas  2566  in response to requests received from one or more of the reviewing devices  2800 , and  FIG.  19 E  illustrates aspects of the use of identifiers assigned to objects to locate objects within one or more federated areas  2566  and/or to identify object associations.  FIG.  19 F  illustrates aspects of the retrieval of a job flow definition  2220  or a DAG  2270  in which a translation is performed between programming languages.  FIG.  19 G  illustrates aspects of the retrieval of a data object that has been stored in a distributed manner. 
     Turning to  FIG.  19 A , as depicted, the control routine  2540  may include a database component  2545  to cause the processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  to organize various ones of the objects  2220 ,  2270 ,  2330 ,  2370 ,  2440 ,  2470 ,  2720  and  2770  into one or more databases  2562 ,  2563 ,  2564  and/or  2567  (or one or more of another type of data structure) for more efficient storage and retrieval thereof within the federated area(s)  2566 . In some embodiments in which there are multiple unrelated federated areas  2566 , the processor(s)  2566  may be caused to instantiate a separate instance of each of the databases  2562 ,  2563 ,  2564  and/or  2567  within each of those unrelated federated areas  2566 . In other embodiments in which there are multiple federated areas  2566  that are related to each other as by being included in either a single linear hierarchy (e.g., the example linear hierarchy introduced in  FIG.  16 A ) or a single hierarchical tree (e.g., the example hierarchical tree introduced in  FIGS.  16 B-C ), the processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  may be caused to instantiate a single instance of each of the databases  2562 ,  2563 ,  2564  and/or  2567  that may cover (or be otherwise capable of covering) all of those multiple related federated areas  2566 . However, in still other embodiments in which there are multiple federated areas  2566  that are related to each other as by being included in a single hierarchical tree, the processor(s)  2566  may be caused to instantiate multiple instances of each of the databases  2562 ,  2563 ,  2564  and/or  2567 , where each of those multiple instances covers a different subset of those multiple related federated areas  2566  that exists within a different one of the branches of the hierarchical tree. Still other embodiments are possible in which each instance of each of the databases  2562 ,  2563 ,  2564  and/or  2567  may cover one or multiple related and/or unrelated federated areas  2566 . 
     Within each instance of the job flow database  2562 , the job flow definitions  2220  may be indexed or made otherwise addressable by their corresponding job flow identifiers  2221 . In some embodiments, DAGs  2270  may be stored within each instance of the job flow database  2562  alongside the job flow definitions  2220 . As has been discussed, new job flow definitions  2220  may be at least partially based on DAGs  2270 . 
     Within each instance of the data object database  2563 , the data sets  2330 / 2370  may be accessible via their corresponding data object identifiers  2331 , and/or each of the result reports  2770  may be accessible via their corresponding result report identifiers  2771 . Alternatively or additionally, in embodiments in which data sets  2330 / 2370  and/or result reports  2770  may be stored within federated areas  2566  in a distributed manner in which they may be divided into blocks of data, such blocks of data may be individually accessible via their corresponding data block identifiers  2335  and/or result block identifiers  2775 , respectively. 
     Within each instance of the task routine database  2564 , the task routines  2440  may be indexed or made otherwise addressable both by their corresponding task routine identifiers  2441 , and by the flow task identifiers  2241  that each may also be assigned to indicate the particular task that each is able to perform. As has been discussed, there may be tasks that multiple task routines  2440  are able to perform such that there may be sets of multiple task routines  2440  that all share the same flow task identifier  2241 . In some embodiments, a search of an instance of the task routine database  2564  using a flow task identifier  2241  to find a task routine  2440  that is able to perform the corresponding task may beget an indication from that instance of the task routine database  2564  of there being more than one of such task routines  2440 , such as a list of the task routine identifiers  2441  of such task routines  2440 . Such an indication may also include an indication of which of the multiple task routines  2440  so identified is the most recent version thereof. Such an indication may be provided by an ordering of the task routine identifiers  2441  of the multiple task routines  2440  that places the task routine identifier  2441  of the most recent version of the task routines  2440  at a particular position within the list. In this way, indications of whether one or multiple task routines  2440  exists that are able to perform a task, as well as which one of multiple task routines  2440  is the newest version, may be quickly provided from an instance of the task routine database  2564  in a manner that obviates the need to access and/or analyze any of the task routines  2440  therefrom. 
     In some embodiments, macros  2470  may be stored within each instance of the task routine database(s)  2564  alongside the task routines  2440  from which each macro  2470  may be derived. As will be explained in greater detail, it may be deemed desirable to enable each macro  2470  to be searchable based on either the task routine identifier  2441  of the specific task routine  2440  from which it was generated, or the flow task identifier  2241  of the task that the task routine  2440  performs. 
     Within each instance of the instance log database  2567 , the instance logs  2720  may be indexed or made otherwise addressable by their corresponding instance log identifiers  2721 . As has been discussed, each performance of a job flow may cause the generation of a separate corresponding instance log  2720  during that performance that provides a log of events occurring during the performance, including and not limited to, each performance of a task. In such embodiments, each instance log  2720  may be implemented as a separate data structure and/or file to provide indications of events occurring during the performance to which it corresponds. However, other embodiments are possible in which each of the instance logs  2720  is implemented as an entry of a larger log data structure and/or larger log data file, such as an instance of the instance log database  2567 . In some embodiments, the manner in which the instance log identifiers  2721  of the instance logs  2720  are stored within an instance of the instance log database  2567  (or other data structure) may be structured to allow each of the instance log identifiers  2721  to be searched for at least portions of particular identifiers for other objects that were concatenated to form one or more of the instance log identifiers  2721 . As will shortly be explained in greater detail, enabling such searches to be performed of the instance log identifiers  2721  may advantageously allow an instance log  2720  for a particular performance of a particular job flow to be identified in a manner that obviates the need to access and/or analyze any of the instance logs  2720  within an instance log database  2567 . 
     As previously discussed, each of the object identifiers  2221 ,  2331 ,  2441 ,  2721  and/or  2771  may be accompanied by a corresponding object location identifier  2222 ,  2332 ,  2442 ,  2722  and/or  2772 , respectively, that serves to indicate at least which federated area  2566  of the multiple related federated areas  2566  that the corresponding object may be stored within. Thus, and more precisely, each job flow identifier  2221  may be accompanied by a job flow location identifier  2222  that serves to identify which of multiple related federated areas  2566  the corresponding job flow definition  2220  or DAG  2270  is stored within. Similarly, each data object identifier  2331  may be accompanied by a data object location identifier  2332  that serves to identify which of multiple related federated areas  2566  the corresponding data set  2330  or  2370  is stored within. Similarly, each result report identifier  2771  may be accompanied by a result report location identifier  2772  that serves to identify which of multiple related federated areas  2566  the corresponding result report  2770  is stored within. Similarly, each task routine identifier  2441  may be accompanied by a task routine location identifier  2442  that serves to identify which of multiple related federated areas  2566  the corresponding task routine  2440  or macro  2470  is stored within. Similarly, each instance log identifier  2721  may be accompanied by an instance log location identifier  2722  that serves to identify which of multiple related federated areas  2566  the corresponding instance log  2720  is stored within. 
       FIG.  19 B  depicts the resulting hierarchy-wide coverage of the resulting single set of object identifiers  2221 ,  2331 ,  2441 ,  2771  and/or  2721 , object location identifiers  2222 ,  2332 ,  2442 ,  2772  and/or  2722 , and/or block identifiers  2335  and/or  2775  in embodiments in which a single instance of each of the databases  2562 ,  2563 ,  2564  and/or  2567  covers all of the multiple federated areas  2566  within a single set of related federated areas within a single hierarchical structure, such as the depicted example hierarchical tree introduced in  FIGS.  16 B-C . Thus, the single depicted set of object identifiers and object location identifiers may be used in retrieving any of the corresponding types of objects that may be stored within any of the federated areas  2566   m ,  2566   q ,  2566   r ,  2566   u  and  2566   x  of the depicted example hierarchical tree. 
     In contrast,  FIG.  19 C  depicts the resulting per-branch coverage of the resulting multiple sets of object identifiers  2221   m ,  2331   m ,  2441   m ,  2771   m  and/or  2721   m ;  2221   q ,  2331   q ,  2441   q ,  2771   q  and/or  2721   q ; and/or  2221   r ,  2331   r ,  2441   r ,  2771   r  and/or  2721   r ; multiple sets of object location identifiers  2222   m ,  2332   m ,  2442   m ,  2772   m  and/or  2722   m ;  2222   q ,  2332   q ,  2442   q ,  2772   q  and/or  2722   q ; and/or  2222   r ,  2332   r ,  2442   r ,  2772   r  and/or  2722   r ; and/or multiple sets of block identifiers  2335   m  and/or  2775   m ;  2335   q  and/or  2775   q ; and/or  2335   r  and/or  2775   r , in embodiments in which a separate instance of each of the databases  2562 ,  2563 ,  2564  and/or  2567  covers a different subset of the multiple federated areas  2566  within a different branch of a single set of related federated areas within a single hierarchical tree. Thus, one of the depicted sets of object identifiers and object location identifiers may be used in retrieving any of the corresponding types of objects that may be stored within either of the federated areas  2566   m  or  2566   x ; while another of the depicted sets of object identifiers and object location identifiers may be used in retrieving any of the corresponding types of objects that may be stored within any of the federated areas  2566   q ,  2566   u  or  2566   x ; and still another of the depicted sets of object identifiers and object location identifiers may be used in retrieving any of the corresponding types of objects that may be stored within any of the federated areas  2566   r ,  2566   u  or  2566   x.    
     Turning to  FIG.  19 D , and as previously discussed, the federated device(s)  2500  may receive a request from one of the source devices  2100 , or from one of the reviewing devices  2800 , to retrieve one or more objects associated with a job flow from within the federated area(s)  2566  and provide it to the requesting device  2100  or  2800 . Alternatively, the request may be to use one or more objects associated with a job flow, and retrieved from the federated area(s)  2566 , to perform an analysis and provide the results thereof. Or, as an another alterative, the request may be to use one or more objects associated with a job flow, and retrieved from the federated area(s)  2566 , to repeat a past performance of that job flow and provide the results thereof and/or the results of a comparison of past and new results thereof. In some embodiments, the processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  may be caused by the portal component  2549  to queue such requests as request data  2535  to enable out-of-order handling of requests, and/or other approaches to increase the efficiency with which such requests are responded to. As previously discussed, the processor(s)  2550  may also be caused by the portal component  2549  to determine whether each of the received requests originated from an authorized person, an authorized device and/or an authorized entity, and/or to determine whether the type of request is authorized for originating person, device and/or entity. 
     As depicted, the control routine  2540  may also include a selection component  2543  to employ one or more identifiers provided in a request and/or one or more rules to locate, select and retrieve objects associated with a job flow from the federated area(s)  2566 . In executing the selection component  2543  and the database component  2545  to provide requested objects, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused to use one or more identifiers of objects that may be provided in a granted request to directly retrieve those one or more objects from federated area(s)  2566 . By way of example, a request may be received for the retrieval and transmission to the requesting device  2100  or  2800  of a particular flow input data set  2330 , and the request may include the data object identifier  2331  of the particular flow input data set  2330 . In response to the request, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the selection component  2543 , in cooperation with the database component  2545 , to employ the provided data object identifier  2331  and/or the corresponding data object location identifier  2332  to search for the particular flow input data set  2330  within the federated area(s)  2566 , retrieve it, and transmit it to the requesting device  2800 . In so doing, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the selection component  2543  to correlate the received data object identifier  2331  to the corresponding data object location identifier  2332 , and to then retrieve the particular flow input data set  2330  from the federated area  2566  indicated by that data object location identifier  2332 . Further, in so doing, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused to communicate within one or more storage devices  2600  and/or one or more other federated devices  2500  that may be indicated by the data object location identifier as storing at least a portion of the flow input data set  2330 . 
     However, other requests may be for the retrieval of objects from federated area(s)  2566  where the identifiers of the requested objects may not be directly provided within the requests. Instead, such requests may employ other identifiers that provide an indirect reference to the requested objects. 
     In one example use of an indirect reference to objects, a request may be received for the retrieval and transmission to the requesting device  2100  or  2800  of a task routine  2440  that performs a particular task, and the request may include the flow task identifier  2241  of the particular task instead of a task routine identifier  2441  that directly identifies any particular task routine  2440 . The processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the selection component  2543 , in cooperation with the database component  2545 , to employ the flow task identifier  2241  provided in the request to search within federated area(s)  2566  for such task routines  2440 . As has been previously discussed, the search may entail correlating the flow task identifiers  2241  to one or more task routine identifiers  2441  of the corresponding one or more task routines  2440  that may perform the task identified by the flow task identifier  2241 . In embodiments in which the task routines  2440  have been organized into a task routine database  2564  within each federated area  2566 , or across multiple federated areas  2566 , as discussed in reference to  FIG.  19 A  (or other searchable data structure), the search may entail searches within such a database or other data structure. The result of such a search may be an indication from such database(s) or other data structure(s) within the federated area(s)  2566  that there is more than one task routine  2440  that is able to perform the task identified by the flow task identifier  2241  provided in the request. As previously discussed, such an indication may be in the form of a list of the task routine identifiers  2441  for the task routines  2440  that are able to perform the specified task. Additionally, and as also previously discussed, such a list may be ordered to provide an indication of which of those task routines  2440  stored within a federated area  2566  is the newest. Again, it may be deemed desirable to favor the use of the newest version of a task routine  2440  that performs a particular task where there is more than one task routine  2440  stored within federated area(s)  2566  that is able to do so. Therefore, in response to the request, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the selection component  2543  to select the newest task routine  2440  indicated among all of the one or more of such lists retrieved within each federated area  2566  to perform the task specified in the request by the flow task identifier  2241 , and to transmit that newest version to the requesting device. Through such automatic selection and retrieval of the newest versions of task routines  2440 , individuals and/or entities that may be developing new analyses may be encouraged to use the newest versions. 
     In another example use of an indirect reference to objects, a request may be received by the federated device(s)  2500  to repeat a previous performance of a specified job flow with one or more specified data objects as inputs (e.g., one or more of the data sets  2330 ), or to provide the requesting device with the objects needed to repeat the previous performance of the job flow, itself. Thus, the request may include the job flow identifier  2221  of the job flow definition  2220  for the job flow, and may include one or more data object identifiers  2331  of the one or more data sets  2330  to be employed as inputs to the previous performance of that job flow sought to be repeated, but may not include identifiers for any other object associated with that previous performance. 
     The processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the selection component  2543  to employ the job flow identifier  2221  and the one or more data objects identifiers  2331  provided in the request to search the one or more federated areas  2566  for all instance logs  2720  that provide an indication of a past performance of the specified job flow with the specified one or more input data objects. In embodiments in which the instance logs  2720  have been organized into an instance log database  2567  as depicted as an example in  FIG.  19 A  (or other searchable data structure), the search may be within such a database or other data structure, and may be limited to the instance log identifiers  2721 . More specifically, in embodiments in which the instance log identifiers  2721  were each generated by concatenating the identifiers of objects associated with a corresponding past performance, the instance log identifiers  2721 , themselves, may be analyzed to determine whether the identifiers provided in the request for particular objects are included within any of the instance log identifiers  2721 . Thus, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused to search each instance log identifier  2721  to determine whether there are any instance log identifiers  2721  that include the job flow identifier  2221  and all of the data object identifiers  2331  provided in the request. If such an instance log identifier  2721  is found, then it is an indication that the instance log  2720  that was assigned that instance log identifier  2721  is associated with a past performance of that job flow associated with the one or more data sets  2330  specified in the request. 
     It should be noted, however, that a situation may arise in which more than one of such instance log identifiers  2721  may be found, indicating that there has been more than one past performance of the job flow with the one or more data sets specified in the request. In response to such a situation, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the selection component  2543  to transmit an indication of the multiple previous performances to the requesting device  2100  or  2800  along with a request for a selection to be made from among those previous performances. The processor(s)  2550  may then await a response from the requesting device  2100  or  2800  that provides an indication of a selection from among the multiple past performances. As an alternative to such an exchange with the requesting device  2100  or  2800 , or in response to a predetermined period of time having elapsed since requesting a selection without an indication of a selection having been received by the federated device(s)  2500 , the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the selection component  2543  to, as a default, select the most recent one of the past performances. 
     After identifying a single past performance, or after the selection of one of multiple past performances, the processor(s)  2550  may then be caused by the selection component  2543  to retrieve the task routine identifiers  2441  specified within the corresponding instance log  2720  of the particular task routines  2440  used in the previous performance. The processor(s)  2550  may then be caused by the selection component  2543 , in cooperation with the database component  2545 , to employ those task routine identifiers  2441  to retrieve the particular task routines  2440  associated with the previous performance from one or more federated areas  2566 . The processor(s)  2550  may also be caused by the selection component  2543  to retrieve the result report identifier  2771  specified within the instance log  2720  of the result report that was generated in the previous performance. The processor(s)  2550  may be further caused by the selection component  2543 , in cooperation with the database component  2543 , to retrieve any data object identifiers  2331  that may be present within the instance log  2720  that specify one or more data sets  2370  that may have been generated as a mechanism to exchange data between task routines  2440  during the performance of a job flow. 
     If the request was for the provision of objects to the requesting device, then the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the database component  2543  to retrieve, from the one or more federated areas, the job flow definition  2220  and the one or more data sets  2330  specified by the job flow identifier  2221  and the one or more data object identifiers  2331 , respectively, in the request, and may be further caused by the portal component  2549  to transmit those objects to the requesting device  2100  or  2800 . The processor  2550  may also be caused by the portal component  2549  to transmit the instance log  2720  generated in the past performance, and the result report  2770  specified by the result report identifier  2771  retrieved from the instance log  2720 . If any data sets  2370  were indicated in the instance log  2720  as having been generated in the previous performance, then the processor(s)  2550  may be further caused by the portal component  2549  to transmit such data set(s)  2370  to the requesting device  2100  or  2800  after having been caused to retrieve such data set(s)  2370  from the one or more federated areas  2566  by the database component  2545 . Thus, based on a request that provided only identifiers for a job flow definition  2220  and one or more data objects used as inputs to a past performance of the job flow, a full set of objects may be automatically selected and transmitted to the requesting device to enable an independent performance of the job flow as part of a review of that previous performance. 
     However, if the request was for a repeat of the previous performance of the job flow by the one or more federated devices  2500 , then instead of (or in addition to) transmitting the objects needed to repeat the previous performance to the requesting device  2100  or  2800 , the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by execution of a performance component  2544  of the control routine  2540  to use those objects to repeat the previous performance within a federated area  2566  in which at least one of the objects is stored and/or to which the user associated with the request and/or the requesting device  2100  or  2800  has been granted access. In some embodiments, the federated area  2566  in which the previous performance took place may be selected, by default, to be the federated area  2566  in which to repeat the performance. Indeed, repeating the performance within the same federated area  2566  may be deemed a requirement to truly reproduce the conditions under which the previous performance occurred. More specifically, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused to execute the task routines  2440  specified in the instance log  2720 , in the order specified in the job flow definition  2220  specified in the request, and using the one or more data sets  2330  specified in the request as input data objects. In some embodiments, where multiple ones of the federated devices  2500  are operated together as the federated device grid  2005 , the processor(s)  2550  of the multiple ones of the federated devices  2500  may be caused by the performance component  2544  to cooperate to divide the execution of one or more of the tasks thereamong. Such a division of one or more of the tasks may be deemed desirable where one or more of the data objects associated with the job flow is of relatively large size. Regardless of the quantity of the federated devices  2500  involved in repeating the previous performance of the job flow, upon completion of the repeat performance, the processor(s)  2550  may be further caused by the performance component  2544  to transmit the newly regenerated result report  2770  to the requesting device. Alternatively or additionally, the processor(s)  2550  may perform a comparison between the newly regenerated result report  2770  and the result report  2770  previously generated in the previous performance to determine if there are any differences, and may transmit an indication of the results of that comparison to the requesting device. Thus, based on a request that provided only identifiers for a job flow definition  2220  and one or more data objects used as inputs to the job flow, a previous performance of a job flow may be repeated and the results thereof transmitted to the requesting device as part of a review of the previous performance. 
     In still another example use of an indirect reference to objects, a request may be received by the one or more federated devices  2500  to perform a specified job flow with one or more specified data objects as inputs (e.g., one or more of the data sets  2330 ). Thus, the request may include the job flow identifier  2221  of the job flow definition  2220  for the job flow, and may include one or more data object identifiers  2331  of the one or more data sets  2330  to be employed as input data objects, but may not include any identifiers for any other objects needed for the performance. 
     The processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the selection component  2543 , in cooperation with the database component  2545 , to employ the job flow identifier  2221  provided in the request to retrieve the job flow definition  2220  for the job flow to be performed. The processor(s)  2550  may then be caused to retrieve the flow task identifiers  2241  from the job flow definition  2220  that specify the tasks to be performed, and may employ the flow task identifiers  2241  to retrieve the newest version of task routine  2440  within one or more federated areas  2566  (e.g., within the task routine database  2564  within each of one or more federated areas  2566 ) for each task. The processor(s)  2550  may also be caused by the selection component  2543  to employ the job flow identifier  2221  and the one or more data objects identifiers  2331  to search the one or more federated areas  2566  for any instance logs  2720  that provide an indication of a past performance of the specified job flow with the specified one or more input data objects. 
     If no such instance log identifier  2721  is found, then it is an indication that there is no record within the one or more federated areas of any previous performance of the specified job flow with the one or more specified data sets  2330 . Indeed, it may then be assumed that this lack of having any such record is an indication that no such previous performance has occurred. In response, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by execution of the performance component  2544  to execute the retrieved newest version of each of the task routines  2440  to perform the tasks of the job flow in the order specified in the job flow definition  2220  specified in the request, and using the one or more data sets  2330  specified in the request as input data objects. Again, in embodiments in which multiple ones of the federated devices  2500  are operated together as the federated device grid  2005 , the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the performance component  2544  to cooperate to divide the execution of one or more of the tasks thereamong. Upon completion of the performance of the job flow, the processor(s)  2550  may be further caused by the performance component  2544  to transmit the result report  2770  generated in the performance of the job flow to the requesting device. Thus, based on a request that provided only identifiers for a job flow definition  2220  and one or more data objects used as inputs to the job flow, a performance of a job flow is caused to occur using the newest available versions of task routines  2440  to perform each task. 
     However, if such an instance log identifier  2721  is found, then it is an indication that there was a previous performance of the job flow specified in the request where the one or more data sets  2330  specified in the request were used as input data objects. If a situation should occur where multiple ones of such instance log identifiers  2721  are found, then it is an indication that there have been multiple previous performances of the job flow, and the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the selection component  2543  to select the most recent one of the multiple previous performances, by default. After the finding of a single previous performance, or after the selection of the most recent one of multiple previous performances, the processor(s)  2550  may then be caused by the selection component  2543 , in cooperation with the database component  2545 , to retrieve the task routine identifiers  2441  specified within the corresponding instance log  2720  of the particular task routines  2440  used in the previous performance. The processor(s)  2550  may then employ those task routine identifiers  2441  to retrieve the particular task routines  2440  associated with the previous performance from one or more federated areas  2566 . The processor  2550  may then compare each of the task routines  2440  specified in the instance log  2720  to the newest task routines  2440  retrieved for each task specified in the job flow definition  2220  to determine whether all of the task routines  2440  specified in the instance log  2720  are the newest versions thereof. If so, then the result report  2770  generated in the previous performance associated with the instance log  2720  was generated using the most recent versions of each of the task routines  2440  needed to perform the tasks of the job flow. The processor(s)  2550  may then entirely forego performing the job flow, may employ the result report identifier  2771  provided in the instance log  2720  to retrieve the result report  2770  generated in the earlier performance, and may transmit that result report  2770  to the requesting device. In this way, a form of caching is provided by which the previously generated result report  2770  is able to be recognized as reusable, and the use of processing resources of the one or more federated devices  2500  to repeat a previous performance of the job flow is avoided. 
     It should be noted, however, that a situation may arise in which one or more of the task routines  2440  specified in the instance log  2720  are the newest versions thereof, while one or more others of the task routines  2440  specified in the instance log  2720  are not. In response to such a situation, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the selection routine  2543  to check whether at least the task routine  2440  specified in the instance log  2720  as performing the first task in the order of tasks specified in the job flow definition  2220  is the newest version of task routine  2440  able to perform that task. If not, then the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the performance component  2544  to employ all of the newest versions of the task routines  2440  to perform the entire job flow, just as the processor(s)  2550  would be caused to do so if there had been no previous performance of the job flow, at all. However, if the first task in the previous performance of the job flow was performed with the newest version of task routine  2440  able to perform that first task, then the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the selection component  2543  to iterate through each task in the order of tasks specified in job flow definition  2720  to determine which were performed with the newest version of task routine  2440 . The processor(s)  2550  would start with the first task in the specified order of tasks, and stop wherever in the specified order of tasks the processor(s)  2550  determine that a task routine  2440  was used that is not the newest version thereof. In this way, the processor(s)  2550  may identify an initial portion of the order of tasks specified in the job flow definition  2220  that may not need to be performed again as they were already performed using the newest versions of their respective task routines  2440 . As a result, only the remainder of the tasks that follow the initial portion in the order of tasks may need to be performed again, but using the newest versions of their respective task routines  2440  for all of those remaining tasks. In this way, a form of partial caching is provided by which an initial portion of a previous performance of a job flow is able to be reused such that not all of the job flow needs to be performed again to generate a result report  2770  to be transmitted to the requesting device. 
       FIG.  19 E  illustrates two examples of searching for objects using one or more identifiers that provide an indirect reference to those objects in greater detail. More specifically,  FIG.  19 E  depicts two different searches for objects that each employ the example instance log identifier  2721   afg   2   h  associated with the  2720   afg   2   h  instance log of the example performance of the job flow  2200   fgh  of  FIGS.  17 A-D . 
     In one example search, and referring to both  FIGS.  19 D and  19 E , a request may be received (and stored as part of the request data  2535 ) for the retrieval of objects associated with, and/or for a repetition of, the example performance  2700   afg   2   h  that resulted in the generation of the result report  2770   afg   2   h . In so doing, the request may use the result report identifier  2771   afg   2   h  to refer to the result report  2770   afg   2   h , while providing no other identifier for any other object associated with the performance  2700   afg   2   h . In response, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the selection component  2543 , in cooperation with the database component  2545 , to search the instance log identifiers  2721  of the instance log database  2567  within one or more federated areas  2566  to locate the one of the multiple instance log identifiers  2721  that includes the result report identifier  2771   afg   2   h . As depicted, the instance log identifier  2721   afg   2   h  is the one of the multiple instance log identifiers  2721  that contains the result report identifier  2771   afg   2   h . With the instance log identifier  2721   afg   2   h  having been found, the processor(s)  2550  may then be caused by the selection component  2543  to retrieve, from the instance log  2720   afg   2   h , the identifiers of the various objects requested to be transmitted to the requesting device and/or needed to repeat the example performance  2700   afg   2   h.    
     In another example search, a request may be received for a repetition of a previous performance of a specific job flow with a specific data object used as input. In so doing, the request may refer to the example job flow  2200   fgh  of  FIGS.  17 A-D  by using the job flow identifier  2221   fgh  of the job flow definition  2220   fgh  that defines the example job flow  2200   fgh , and may refer to the data set  2330   a  by using the data object identifier  2331   a . In response, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the selection component  2543 , in cooperation with the database component  2545 , to search the instance log identifiers  2721  of the instance log database  2567  within one or more federated areas  2566  to locate any of the multiple instance log identifiers  2721  that includes the both the job flow identifier  2221   fgh  and the data object identifier  2331   a . As depicted, the instance log identifier  2721   afg   2   h  is the one of the multiple instance log identifiers  2721  that contains both of these identifiers  2221   fgh  and  2331   a . With the instance log identifier  2721   afg   2   h  having been found, the processor(s)  2550  may then be caused by the selection component  2543  to retrieve, from the instance log  2720   afg   2   h , the identifiers of the various objects needed to repeat the example performance  2700   afg   2   h . The processor(s)  2550  may then be caused by execution of the performance component  2544  to perform the example job flow  2200   fgh  with the data set  2330   a  as the input data object. 
     Turning to  FIG.  19 F , while also referring back to  FIG.  19 D , as an alternative to the federated device(s)  2500  transmitting objects to another device  2100  or  2800  in response to requests, and as previously discussed, the federated device(s)  2500  may, instead, transmit objects to another device  2100  or  2800  as a result of an ongoing synchronization relationship instantiated between transfer area(s)  2666  within one or more federated areas  2566  and other transfer area(s)  2166  or  2866  within a storage  2160  or  2860  of the other device  2100  or  2800 , respectively. Again, the instantiation of such synchronization relationship(s) may be in response to a request received by the one or more federated devices  2500 . And again, in some embodiments, such synchronization relationship(s) may be requested and instantiated to support a collaboration among developers who have access to and are familiar with the use of the federated area(s)  2566  of the federated device(s)  2500 , and other developers who do not have access to and/or are not familiar with the use of those federated area(s)  2566 . 
     As previously discussed, such synchronized relationship(s) in which there is a need for translations between programming languages may be instantiated in support of a collaboration among developers to develop an analysis or other routine that includes developers familiar with a primary programming language associated with the use of the federated area(s)  2566 , and other developers who may, instead, be familiar with a secondary programming language. Again, such other developers may also be accustomed to relying upon an implementation of a source code management system within the other device  2100  or  2800 , instead of being familiar with the use of the federated area(s)  2566 . 
     Again, in such a situation, such synchronization relationship(s) may entail maintaining synchronization of contents between transfer area(s)  2666  instantiated within federated areas(s)  2566  maintained by the federated device(s)  2500  and transfer area(s)  2166  or  2866  maintained within the storage  2160  or  2860  of the other device  2100  or  2800 , respectively. Again, the transfer area(s)  2166  or  2866  may be defined to occupy the portion of the storage  2160  or  2860  of the device  2100  or  2800  within which a source code management system maintains a copy of all of the executable instructions. Correspondingly, the transfer area(s)  2666  instantiated within federated area(s)  2566  may also be the designated location(s) in which portions of the executable instructions of the analysis or other routine are to be stored as objects. With these transfer areas and their synchronization relationship having been instantiated, it may be that the processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  are caused to cooperate with the processor(s)  2150  of the device  2100  in which the transfer area(s)  2166  are instantiated, or the processor(s) of the device  2800  in which the transfer area(s)  2866  are instantiated, to use instances in which changes to portions of executable instructions have been “committed” or at least “checked in” as a trigger to cause the transfer of the affected object(s) therebetween. 
     Continuing with  FIG.  19 F , regardless of the exact manner in which the federated device(s)  2500  are caused to transmit an object to another device  2100  or  2800 , it may be that the other device  2100  or  2800  requires a portion of the transmitted object to be written in a secondary programming language that is not utilized by the processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  in the performance of job flows. In some embodiments, it may be that this requirement is to be applied to job flow definitions  2220  that are to be transmitted by the federated device(s)  2500  back to the other device  2100  or  2800 , as it may be that at least some other types of object may not be transmitted back to the other device  2100  or  2800 . Thus, in such embodiments, the depicted job flow definition  2220   p , which includes input and/or output interface definitions written in the primary programming language, is to be translated into the depicted other form  2220   s , which includes corresponding input and/or output interface definitions written in the secondary programming language. 
     In some of such embodiments, the processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  may be caused to perform a reverse form of the translation process earlier described in connection with  FIG.  18 B  by which the job flow definition  2220   p  stored within a federated area  2566  may have been generated from an earlier received version thereof in which the input and/or output interface definitions were written in a secondary language. More specifically, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused to translate the input and/or output interface definitions within the depicted job flow definition  2220   p  into an intermediate representation, just as might normally be done to enable a comparison to input and/or output interface implementations by one or more task routines  2440 . Subsequently, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused to translate the input and/or output definitions from the intermediate representation and into the secondary programming language within the depicted job flow definition  2220   s  that is transmitted to the other device  2100  or  2800 . 
     Alternatively, in other embodiments in which the transmission of objects back to the other device  2100  or  2800  is limited to job flow definitions  2220 , and in which at least the input and/or output interface definitions thereof are required to be written in the secondary programming language, the processor(s)  2550  may be caused by the interpretation component  2547  to perform a direct translation from the at least the input and/or output definitions written in the primary programming language within the depicted job flow definition  2220   p , and into at least the input and/or output definitions written in the secondary programming language within the depicted job flow definition  2220   s  that is transmitted to the other device  2100  or  2800 . Such a direct translation may be deemed desirable where a fuller translation capability is needed as a result of the depicted job flow definition  2220   p  also including GUI instructions that need to be translated from the primary programming language into the secondary programming language to generate corresponding GUI instructions within the depicted job flow definition  2220   s.    
     As previously discussed, job flow definitions  2220  may be derived from DAGs  2270  and/or vice versa. As also previously discussed, embodiments are possible in which different DAGs  2270  may be generated in different languages, and such different languages may be the same differing programming languages as used in portions of job flow definitions  2220 . Alternatively, such different languages may be differing forms of notation, and each may be associated with a different programming language and/or a different development environment. Thus, like job flow definitions  2220 , it may be that DAGs  2270  exchanged between the one or more federated devices  2500  and another device  2100  or  2800  may also be at least partially translated such that, as depicted, for a DAG  2270   p  stored within a transfer area  2666  within a federated area  2566  that employs a primary programming language or primary form of notation, there may be a corresponding DAG  2270   s  that is generated therefrom and stored within a transfer area  2166  or  2866  within a storage  2160  or  2860 , respectively, that employs a secondary programming language or secondary form of notation to provide the same view of the same job flow  2200 , of the same instance of performance of a job flow  2200 , of the same task and/or of the same task routine  2440 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  19 G , also regardless of the exact manner in which the federated device(s)  2500  are caused to transmit an object to another device  2100  or  2800 , it may be that the other device  2100  or  2800  requires being provided with a large data object that had been previously stored in a distributed manner among multiple storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z , such as the depicted flow input data set  2330 . As a result, an undivided whole version of the flow input data set  2330  may need to be reassembled (e.g., in a reduction operation) from the multiple blocks into which it had been previously divided for storage, such as the depicted multiple data object blocks  2336   d  distributed across the storage devices  2600   a - x , or across the federated devices  2500   a - x , described in connection with  FIG.  18 C . However, as previously discussed, in some embodiments, it may be that such distributed storage of the flow input data set  2330  had entailed a conversion into a distributable form, such as the conversion that was also earlier described in connection with  FIG.  18 C . Thus, in such embodiments, reassembly of the flow input data set  2330  from the multiple data object blocks  2336   d  may entail a reversal of the earlier performed conversion into distributable form. 
     Therefore, in response to the requirement to provide the flow input data set  2330  to another device  2100  or  2800 , and based on whether the flow input data set  2330  had been converted into a distributable form as part of storing it, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused by execution of the selection component  2543  and/or the database component  2545  to cooperate with the storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z , or with the federated devices  2500   a - x  and/or  2500   z , to retrieve the flow input data set  2330   d  of distributable form the multiple data object blocks  2336   d  distributed thereamong. As previously discussed in reference to  FIG.  18 D , it may be that a data object location identifier  2332  is accessed to retrieve indications of aspects of the manner in which the flow input data set  2330  was stored, including and not limited to, indications of having been so converted, of having been stored in a distributed manner, of what federated area  2566  in which it is stored and/or of which devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2500   a - x  in which it is stored in a distributed manner. Again, such indications may affect the choice of which devices are communicated with to retrieve the flow input data set  2330 . 
     In some embodiments in which the flow input data set  2330  is stored across the storage devices  2600   a - x , it may be the storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z  that perform the work of reassembling the flow input data set  2330   d  from the data object blocks  2336   d  as the flow input data set  2330   d . Alternatively, it may be the processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  that are to transmit the retrieved flow input data set  2330  to the other device  2100  or  2800  that may be caused to perform such a reassembly. 
     With the flow input data set  2330   d  reassembled, the processor(s)  2550  may then perform a reverse conversion of the flow input data set  2330   d  of distributable form into the originally received form of the flow input data set  2330 . In so doing, the processor(s)  2550  may re-create a distinct metadata data structure within the re-created flow input data set  2330  (if such a metadata data structure was present therein, originally), and/or may organized the data items therein into multiple distinct and/or non-homogeneous data structures within the re-created flow input data set  2330  (if such multiple data structures were present therein, originally). Regardless of the exact actions required to re-create the flow input data set  2330  in its originally received form, following such a re-creation, the processor(s)  2550  may then be caused to transmit the newly re-created original form of the flow input data set  2330  to the other device  2100  or  2800  via the network  2999 . 
       FIGS.  20 A,  20 B,  20 C,  20 D,  20 E and  20 F , together, illustrate various aspects of the generation of a DAG  2270  based on one or more task routines  2440 , and of the use of such a DAG  2270  to provide a visualization  2980  of such one or more task routines  2440 .  FIG.  20 A  illustrates aspects of collecting information concerning inputs and/or outputs of at least one task routine  2440  in preparation for generating a DAG  2270 .  FIG.  20 B  illustrates aspects of generating a DAG  2270  based on collected information concerning inputs and/or outputs of at least one task routine  2440 .  FIGS.  20 C,  20 D and  20 E , taken together, illustrate aspects of generating a visualization  2980  of a DAG  2270  to visually indicate a connection or a lack of connection between a pair of task routines.  FIG.  20 F  illustrates aspects of the generation and storage of a new DAG  2270  from a visualization  2980  of an edited DAG  2270 . 
       FIG.  20 A  illustrates aspects of the generation of a macro  2470  for each task routine  2440  that may be included in a DAG  2270  as an intermediate step to generating the DAG  2270 . Such an intermediate step may be performed where the objects that serve as the sources of the information to be depicted in a DAG  2270  are located remotely from where a visualization  2980  of the DAG  2270  is to be displayed, such as where those objects are stored within federated area(s)  2566  maintained by one or more federated devices  2500 , but the DAG  2270  is to be displayed by a source device  2100  or a reviewing device  2800 . In such situations, the one or more macros  2470  that are so generated may then be transmitted to the device that is to display the visualization  2980  to enable the DAG  2270  to be generated thereat from the one or more macros  2470 . However, it should be noted that, where the DAG  2270  is to be generated and/or a visualization  2980  of it is to be displayed locally (e.g., by a computing device with more direct access to the objects that serve as the sources of the information to be depicted), then the DAG  2270  may be generated more directly, and while foregoing the generation of macro(s)  2470 . Also, as an alternative to the generation and transmission of macros  2470  to a remote device that is to display a DAG  2270  generated therefrom, the DAG  2270 , itself, may be generated locally (e.g., at one or more of the federated devices  2500 ) and then an image of the DAG  2270  may be transmitted to the device that is to display a visualization  2980  of the DAG  2270 . 
     As depicted, an example task routine  2440  from which at least a portion of a DAG  2270  may be generated may include executable instructions  2447  written in any of a variety of programming languages and comments  2448  written in a syntax for comments that may be based on the programming language in which the executable instructions  2447  are written. It should be noted that, for the sake of understandability in presentation, what is depicted is a deliberately simplified example of a task routine  2440  in which there is a single block of comments  2448  that precedes a single block of executable instructions  2447 . As also depicted, and in keeping with the earlier discussed approaches to enabling the automated selection of task routines  2440  to perform specific tasks, the depicted example task routine  2440  may include the flow task identifier  2241  that identifies the particular task that is performed by the task routine  2440 . As previously discussed, in some embodiments, the flow task identifier may incorporate a task type identifier  2242  that is indicative of a type for the corresponding task that is performed. 
     As also depicted, and in keeping with the earlier discussed approaches to organizing task routines  2440  for later retrieval and use, the depicted example task routine  2440  may be stored within a federated area  2566  in which a task routine database  2564  may also be stored that may employ an indexing scheme by which the task routine  2440  is able to be retrieved by the task routine identifier  2441  assigned to it. As has was also previously discussed, the task routine database  2564  may correlate flow task identifiers  2241  of tasks to be performed with task routine identifiers  2441  of the task routine(s)  2440  that perform each of those tasks. However, as previously noted, other mechanisms than a database may be employed to enable the retrieval of task routines  2440  for use in the performances of their respective tasks during the performance of a job flow. As has also been discussed, the federated area  2566  in which the depicted example task routine  2440  is stored may be one of a set of multiple related federated areas  2566 , such as a linear hierarchy or a hierarchical tree. Thus, as depicted, the portal data  2539  (or other data structure) may store various parameters associated with each of the multiple federated areas  2566  within such a set of federated areas  2566 , including aspects of relationships thereamong, and separate federated area identifiers  2568  and/or  2569  for each. 
     In executing the interpretation component  2547 , the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused to parse the comments  2448  (whether divided into multiple blocks throughout the task routine  2440 , or not) to identify, retrieve and interpret at least portions of the comments  2448  that specify aspects of inputs and/or outputs of the task routine  2440 . Such aspects that may be so specified may include, and are not limited to, data types of data objects received as inputs and/or generated as outputs, and/or indexing schemes that may be employed in accessing data within data objects. Some of such comments  2448  may identify particular data objects used as inputs and/or generated as outputs, and this may be done to provide default selections of data objects. Alternatively, others of such comments  2448  may avoid doing so as part of an approach to allowing particular data object(s) to be specified by a job flow definition, or in any of a variety of other ways, during the performance of a job flow in which the task routine may be executed. 
     In parsing the comments  2448 , the processor(s)  2550  may be caused to retrieve various rules for interpreting the contents of the task routine  2440  from a stored set of parameter rules  2537 , including language interpretation rules for at least the particular programming language in which the task routine  2440  was written. The processor(s)  2550  may be caused to use such rules to distinguish the comments  2448  from at least the executable instructions  2447 , and may use such rules to interpret them. 
     In executing the interaction component  2548 , the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may be caused to generate a macro  2470  corresponding to the task routine  2440  that includes one or more input/output (I/O) parameters  2478  that indicate the details concerning inputs and/or outputs that are retrieved from the executable instructions  2447  and/or the comments  2448  of the task routine  2440 . Additionally, other pieces of information may also be included in the macro  2470 , such as the flow task identifier  2241  indicating the task performed when the task routine  2440  is executed, and/or the federated area identifiers  2568  and/or  2569  of the federated area  2566  in which the depicted example task routine  2440  is stored. 
     In some embodiments, the processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices  2500  may additionally compare aspects of inputs and/or outputs indicated in the comments  2448  to how those aspects are actually implemented in the executable instructions  2447  to determine whether they match. Where discrepancies are detected, side by side sets of I/O parameters  2478  may be stored within the depicted example macro  2470 , with one based on the comments  2448  and the other based on the executable instructions  2447 , as a way of indicating a discrepancy therebetween. This may be deemed desirable to allow the details of such a discrepancy to be displayed as part of the DAG  2270  that is later generated from the macro  2470 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  20 B , as depicted, an example DAG  2270  may be generated and then visually presented in an example visualization  2980  in which the example task routine  2440  of  FIG.  20 A  is represented with a combination of graph objects, including a task graph object  2984  accompanied by an input data graph object  2983  and an output data graph object  2987 . Where the depicted DAG  2270  is generated within federated device(s)  2500 , it may be that the processor(s)  2550  thereof are caused to do so by execution of at least the interaction component  2548 . It should be noted that, for the sake of understandability in presentation, what is depicted is a deliberately simplified example of a DAG  2270  in which there is a single task routine  2440  depicted that has a single input and a single output. However, it is envisioned that other embodiments of the DAG  2270  may be generated that may include representations of a great many task routines  2440  of which many would may include multiple inputs and/or multiple outputs. 
     As depicted in the example visualization  2980 , the graph objects  2983 ,  2984  and  2987  that form such a representation of the task routine  2440  of  FIG.  20 A  may each be selected to visually conform, to at least some degree, to version 2.0 of the BPMN specification for visual representations of objects. More specifically, a rounded rectangle may be selected to be the task graph object  2984 , and circles connected to the task graph object  2984  by arrows may be selected to be the data graph objects  2983  and  2987 . In generating the task graph object  2984 , some form of identifier of the task routine  2440  may be placed within the rounded rectangle shape thereof. In some embodiments, such an identifier may be the task routine identifier  2441  assigned to the task routine  2440  and/or the flow task identifier  2241  that identifies the task performed by the task routine  2440 , each of which may be included within and retrieved from the macro  2470 . However, as previously discussed, at least the task routine identifier  2441  may be a hash value of numerous bytes in size generated by taking a hash of at least a portion of the task routine  2440  such that the task routine identifier  2441  may be cumbersome for personnel to read, recognize and use as a mechanism to uniquely identify the task routine  2440 . Therefore, the task routine  2440  may be assigned a less cumbersome textual name that may be placed within the rounded rectangle shape of the task graph object  2984 . It may be that such an assigned textual name may be based on a name given to the file in which the task routine  2440  is stored in embodiments in which objects are stored within the federated area(s)  2566  as files with textual file names. Alternatively or additionally, it may be that such an assigned textual name may be specified in the comments  2448  of the task routine  2440 . 
     Additionally, in embodiments in which the task routine  2440  is stored within a federated area  2566  that belongs to a set of related federated areas  2566 , some form of identifier of the specific federated area  2566  in which the task routine  2440  is stored may be placed within the rounded rectangle shape of the task graph object  2984 . In some embodiments, such an identifier may be the human-readable federated area identifier  2568 . As previously discussed, it may be that the human-readable federated area identifier  2568  is a URL that may include a textual name given to the federated area  2566 , and may additionally indicate a path among multiple federated areas  2566  by which the federated area  2566  that stores the task routine  2440  is connected to a base federated area  2566  (unless the federated area  2566  in which the task routine  2440  is stored is the base federated area). Further, in embodiments in which the human-readable federated area identifier  2568  is a URL and in which the task routine  2440  is assigned a textual name based on a file name, the human-readable federated area identifier  2568  may be combined with such a name into a single string of text within the rounded rectangle that both identifies the task routine  2440  and specifies its location among the set of related federated areas  2566  in relation to the base federated area thereof. 
     In generating the input data graph object  2983 , some form of identifier of the input data object represented thereby may be placed within or adjacent to the input data graph object  2983 . Similarly, in generating the output data graph object  2987 , some form of identifier of the output data object represented thereby may be placed within or adjacent to the output data graph object  2987 . As previously discussed, the comments  2448  within a task routine  2440  may provide a more or less specific indication of a data object serving as an input or an output, and this may depend on whether it is intended that a data object is to be specified when the task routine  2440  is executed as part of a performance of a job flow, or the identity of the data object is already known such that it is able to be specifically identified in the comments  2448 . 
     Focusing, for sake of ease of discussion, on the input data graph object  2983 , if the identity of the specific data object for this input (e.g., the depicted example data set  2330 ) is already known at the time the task routine  2440  is written, then some form of identifier of that specific data object may be specified in the comments  2448  and/or in the executable instructions  2447 . In some embodiments, such an identifier may be the data object identifier  2331  assigned to the depicted example data set  2330 . However, as previously discussed, as with the task routine identifier  2441  of the task routine  2440 , the data object identifier  2331  may also be a hash value of numerous bytes in size such that the data object identifier  2331  may also be cumbersome for personnel to read, recognize and use. Therefore, as with the task routine  2440 , the depicted data set  2330  may be assigned a less cumbersome textual name that may be incorporated into its data set metadata  2338 , and this textual name may be placed within or adjacent to the circular input data graph object  2983 . As with such a textual name that may be assigned to the task routine  2440 , such a textual name assigned to the data set  2330  may be based on a name given to the file in which the data set  2330  is stored in embodiments in which objects are stored within the federated area(s)  2566  as files with textual file names. 
     As previously discussed, in some embodiments, it may be that the metadata  2338  includes an indication of a type of task with which the data set  2330  may be compatible. As depicted, such an indication may be the inclusion of a task type identifier  2242  for the corresponding compatible type of task. As an alternative to, or in addition to, incorporating such an indication into the metadata  2338 , it may be that such a task type identifier  2242 , or other indication of compatible task type, is incorporated into a textual name given to the data set  2330  (e.g., a file name of the data set  2330 ). Regardless of the exact manner in which a task type is specified within the depicted task routine  2440 , and regardless of the exact manner in which a compatible task type is indicated for the depicted data set  2330 , it may be that, as part of generating the depicted example DAG  2270 , processor(s)  2550  may be caused to use those indications of task type to determine whether the depicted data set  2330  is compatible with the task type of the depicted task routine  2440  with which the depicted data set  2330  is to be used. If an incompatibility is determined to exist, then the resulting DAG  2270  may be generated to include a visual indication of an incompatibility error. 
     However, and still focusing on the input data graph object  2983 , if the identity of the specific data object for this input is not already known at the time the task routine  2440  is written, then the name of a variable or some other form of placeholder may be specified in the comments  2448  and/or in the executable instructions  2447 . In such embodiments, it may be the name or other identifier of that variable or other type of placeholder that may be placed within or adjacent to the circular input data graph object  2983 . It should be noted that such approaches to providing a visual indication of the identity of the input data object associated with the depicted input data graph object  2983  may also be applied to providing a visual indication of the identity of the output data object (not shown) associated with the depicted output data graph object  2987 . 
       FIGS.  20 C,  20 D and  20 E , taken together, depict an embodiment of an approach to conveying either the presence of a dependency or the lack of a dependency between two task routines in visualizations  2980  of contrasting examples of DAGs  2270 . Each of the example visualizations  2980  of  FIGS.  20 C and  20 D  includes representations of two task routines  2440   a  and  2440   b , where the task routine  2440   a  is represented by a combination of a task graph object  2984   a  and corresponding data graph objects  2983  and  2987 , and where the task routine  2440   b  is represented by a combination of a task graph object  2984   b  and other corresponding data graph objects  2983  and  2987 . However, in the visualization  2980  of  FIG.  20 C , a vertical arrangement of the representations of the task routines  2440   a  and  2440   b  is used to provide a visual indication of no dependency therebetween, such that there is no data object output by one of the task routines  2440   a  and  2440   b  that is needed as an input to the other. In contrast, in the visualizations  2980  of  FIGS.  20 D and  20 E , a horizontal arrangement of the representations of the task routines  2440   a  and  2440   b  provides the suggestion of a left-to-right path of dependency from the task routine  2440   a  to the task routine  2440   b . Reinforcing this indication of such a dependency is an additional arrow pointing from the representation of the task routine  2440   a  to the representation of the task routine  2440   b . It should be noted that, although such a use of an arrow is depicted as providing an indication of such a dependency (regardless of whether horizontal arrangement is also used), any of a variety of other forms of indication of such a dependency may be used in other embodiments. By way of example, color coding, graphical symbols and/or other form of visual connector indicative of the dependency may be used to. 
     In situations in which a visualization  2980  is to be generated of a DAG  2270  that includes multiple task routines  2440 , the details of the inputs and outputs of each of the task routines may be analyzed to identify any instances that may be present of a particular data object having been specified as both an output of one task routine  2440  and an input of another task routine  2440 . Such a situation, if found, may be deemed to indicate a dependency in which the one task routine  2440  provides the particular data object that is needed as an input to the other  2440 , such as what is depicted in  FIG.  20 D  between the output of task routine  2440   a  and the input of task routine  2440   b . Again, as a result of such a dependency, execution of the task routine  2440   a  may be required to occur ahead of the execution of the task routine  2440   b  so as to ensure that the output of the task routine  2440   a  is able to be provided to the task routine  2440   b  for use during its execution. 
     Turning more specifically to  FIG.  20 E , in some embodiments and as previously discussed, where a visualization is to be generated from a job flow definition  2200 , it may be that the dependencies between task routines  2440  may be set forth within the flow definition  2225  using two variations of syntax. More specifically, and as discussed in reference to  FIG.  17 D , it may be that a syntax is used in which all of the data objects that are received as inputs and that are generated as outputs for a task are all explicitly indicated, thereby providing more information about data objects that may be depicted in a DAG  2270  with input data graph objects  2983  and/or output data graph objects  2987 . However, as was also discussed, it may also be that, an alternate syntax is used in which at least some dependencies are set forth in a manner in which one task is referred to as an input into another task such that the one task is actually referred to as if it were a data object. As a result, in such an alternate syntax, the fact that a data object is exchanged between the two tasks is implied, rather than explicit, with the result that there may be fewer details available concerning such an implied data object than may be available about other data objects. Thus, where the exchange of a data object is so implied, the resulting visualization  2980  may depict only an arrow (or other similar graphical element suggestive of a linkage) extending from one task graph object  2984   a  and to another task graph object  2984   b , and without any form of input data graph object  2983  or output data graph object  2987  that explicitly depicts the data object that is exchanged. 
       FIG.  20 F  depicts aspects of the generation and storage, within a federated area  2566 , of a new DAG  2270  from a visualization  2980  of an earlier DAG  2270  that may have been edited. More specifically, in some embodiments a UI may be provided to allow editing of aspects of one or more task routines  2440  of an existing DAG  2270  by graphically editing corresponding aspects of graph objects  2983 ,  2984  and/or  2987  of one or more corresponding representations of task routines  2440 . Thus, where a visualization  2980  is initially generated of a DAG  2270 , provision may be made for such editing to allow details of a new DAG  2270  to be developed. Further, upon completion of such editing, the new DAG  2270  thusly developed may then be stored within a federated area  2566 , and may subsequently be used as at least a basis for a new job flow definition  2220  that defines a new job flow. 
     Such editing may entail changing the visual indication(s) of one or more I/O parameters  2478  that may be visually indicated within or adjacent to an input data graph object  2983  or an output data graph object  2987  to thereby change the one or more I/O parameters  2478  that correspond to those visual indication(s). More specifically, where a name or other identifier of a data object  2330  or  2370  that is generated as an output of a task routine  2440  is visually presented adjacent to the corresponding output data graph object  2987 , an edit made in which that name or other identifier is changed in the visualization  2980  may trigger a corresponding change in what data object  2330  or  2370  is generated as an output. Correspondingly, where a name or other identifier of a data object  2330  or  2370  that is used as an input to a task routine  2440  is visually presented adjacent to the corresponding input data graph object  2983 , an edit made in which that name or other identifier is changed in the visualization  2980  may trigger a corresponding change in what data object  2330  or  2370  is used as an input. As a result of such editing capabilities being provided, dependencies between task routines may be created, changed and/or entirely removed. In at least this way, the order of performance of tasks, and/or which tasks are able to be performed in parallel, may be changed as part of creating a new DAG  2270  that may be employed as at least part of a new job flow definition  2220 . 
     As previously discussed, a DAG  2270  may be stored in a federated area as a script generated in a process description language such as BPMN. In some embodiments, at least a subset of the job flow definitions  2220  maintained within one or more federated areas  2566  by the one or more federated devices  2500  may also be stored, at least partially, as scripts in such a process description language as BPMN. Thus, there may be few, if any, differences in the contents of DAGs  2270  vs. job flow definitions  2220  such that a DAG  2270  may be usable as a job flow definition  2220  with little or no modification. It is for this reason that DAGs  2270  may be stored alongside job flow definitions  2220  in the earlier described job flow database  2562 . 
       FIGS.  21 A,  21 B,  21 C,  21 D,  21 E,  21 F,  21 G,  21 H,  21 I,  21 J,  21 K,  21 L,  21 M and  21 N , together, illustrate various aspects of providing coordination through message queues to better enable the allocation and use of various resources provided by the federated device(s)  2500  and/or of the storage device(s)  2600  through the dynamic allocation of containers  2565 , pods  2661  and/or VMs  2505  to support the execution of routines. As is about to be explained, containers  2565  may be dynamically allocated within various types of pods  2661  to support the execution of various different routines, including and not limited to, portal pods  2661   p , performance pods  2661   e , a scaling pod  2661   x , task pods  2661   t  and kill pods  2661   k . In some embodiments, at least a subset of the pods  2661  may be dynamically allocated within VMs  2505 , instead of being dynamically allocated directly within the hardware environments provided by the devices  2500  and/or  2600 . 
       FIGS.  21 A-C  illustrate aspects of an overall architecture for providing such coordination, including configuration of pod types, distribution of task pods  2661   t , and instantiation of message queues  2669 .  FIG.  21 D  illustrates aspects of such coordination where there are VMs  2505  within the devices  2500  and/or  2600 .  FIGS.  21 E-J  illustrates aspects of the use of queues  2669  to coordinate at least the use of the containers  2565  and/or pods  2661 , and/or to fine tune their allocation.  FIG.  21 K  illustrates aspects of the coordinated allocation of containers  2565  within portal pods  2661   p  to support the execution of one or more instances of the portal component  2549 .  FIG.  21 L  illustrates aspects of the coordinated allocation of containers  2565  within performance pods  2661   e  to support the execution of one or more instances of the performance component  2544 .  FIG.  21 M  illustrates aspects of the coordinated allocation of containers  2565  within task pods  2661   t  to support the execution of task routines  2440 .  FIG.  21 N  illustrates aspects of the coordinated allocation of at least one container  2565  within a kill pod  2661   k  to support the execution of a kill routine  2515 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  21 A , in some embodiments, as part of implementing MTC in which complex analysis routines may be implemented as multiple task routines  2440  that are executed in a distributed manner under the control of a job flow definition  2220 , a resource allocation routine  2411  may be relied upon to dynamically instantiate, maintain and/or uninstantiate containers  2565  within which the task routines  2440  and other routines that coordinate such distributed execution may each be separately executed. As previously discussed, the resource allocation routine  2411  may be an implementation of Kubernetes or similar software that allocates such containers  2565  within multiple pods  2661  of various types. As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, the overall quantity of the pods  2661  (and accordingly, the overall quantity of containers  2565 ) that are currently allocated may fluctuate under the control of the resource allocation routine  2411  in response to changes in the level of availability of processing, storage, communications and/or other resources within each of the device(s)  2500  and/or  2600 , and/or within each of the VMs  2505 . More specifically, and as previously discussed, the overall quantity of currently allocated pods  2661  may be dynamically increased through the instantiation of one or more pods  2661 , and may be dynamically decreased through the uninstantiation of one or more pods  2661 , and such instances of instantiation and uninstantiation may occur without any coordination with the timing of when the execution of any routine within any container  2565  is commenced or is completed. 
     The uncoordinated instantiation of one or more new pods  2661  (and accordingly, one or more new containers  2565  within which routines may be executed) may present no issue to the successful execution of task routines  2440  associated with a job flow, and no issue to the successful execution of other routines that serve to coordinate such executions of task routines  2440 . Stated differently, the instantiation of a new container  2565 , regardless of when it occurs, may have little or no affect on the executions of routines already underway in other containers  2565  that already exist. However, the uncoordinated uninstantiation of a pod  2661  necessarily causes the uncoordinated uninstantiation of a container  2565  within which the execution of a routine may be underway, thereby causing such execution of that routine to cease with aspects of the execution of that routine in an unknown state, such that resumption of the execution of that routine from the point at which execution ceased may not be possible. 
     To mitigate the effects of such events on the distributed execution of task routines  2440  of a job flow, a message broker routine  2419  may maintain a set of message queues  2669  through which particular types of messages are exchanged among particular subsets of the various types of pods  2661 . The particular messages that are exchanged and the protocols that are used in doing so may provide a mechanism to maintain information concerning the current state of execution of various ones of the routines within the containers  2565 . In this way, an uncoordinated uninstantiation of a pod  2661  that, in turn, causes the uncoordinated cessation of execution of a routine within a container  2565  of that pod  2661 , may be responded to by causing the commencement of execution of a new instance of that same routine within another container  2565  of another pod  2661 , when available. Stated differently, such commencement of execution of a new instance of that same routine within another container  2565  may be occasioned upon: 1) the completion of execution of another routine within an existing container  2565  within an existing pod  2565 , such that the existing container  2565  becomes available for use; or 2) the instantiation of an entirely new container  2565  within a newly instantiated pod  2661 , such that a new container  2565  becomes available for use. 
     Turning to  FIGS.  21 B-D , in being executed by processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500 , the resource allocation routine  2411  may be caused to dynamically allocate a set of multiple pods  2661  of multiple types in accordance with configuration information stored within pod configuration data  2631 . More specifically, the pod configuration data  2631  may specify each type of pod  2661  that is to be instantiated; a quantity or range of quantities of each type of pod  2661  that is to be maintained (e.g., a maximum and/or a minimum quantity per type); levels of one or more types of resource required to support each type of pod  2661 ; types of containers  2565  to be instantiated within each type of pod  2661 ; a quantity or range of quantities of each type of container that is to be maintained within each type of pod  2661 ; particular routines that are to be executed within each type of container  2565  within each type of pod  2661 ; various aspects of communications (e.g., messaging) that are to be permitted with the environment external to each type of pod  2661 ; and/or various aspects of exchanges of objects that are to be permitted with the environment external to each type of pod  2661  (e.g., with federated areas  2566 ). 
     In some embodiments, the pod configuration data  2631  may specify at least some parameters as a set of environment variables that may be made available to each of the pods  2661  of each type. Such environment variables may be provided to each pod  2661  as each pod  2661  is instantiated, and/or may be made accessible to each pod  2661  as values that are able to be queried for from within each pod  2661 . Additionally, regardless of the exact manner in which such environment variables are provided to each pod  2661 , it may be that, within each pod  2661 , one or more of such environment variables are made available to the routines executed within the containers  2565  thereof as values that are able to be queried from within each container  2565 . 
     By way of example, it may be that at least a portion of the configuration information within the pod configuration data  2631  is written in the syntax of a human-readable programming language such as JSON. Such configuration information may be provided, still in such a format, to the resource allocation routine  2411 . In executing the resource allocation routine  2411 , processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  may be caused to provide at least a portion of such configuration information to each pod  2661  as each pod  2661  is instantiated (at least a portion that includes configuration information relevant to the particular type of pod  2661  that is instantiated), again still in such a format. This may enable a routine executed within one of the containers  2565  within each such pod to use a callable query procedure to access values from within such a portion of configuration information, and be provided with a table of entries correlating labels of particular environment variables to their values (or other similar data structure). 
     Each the earlier mentioned types of pod  2661   p ,  2661   e ,  2661   x ,  2661   t  and  2661   k  may have both features that are common to all types of pod  2661 , and features that may be unique to each type of pod  2661 , as specified in the pod configuration data  2631 . As an example of commonality among all types of pod  2661 , it may be that the pod configuration data  2631  specifies that all of these types of pod  2661  (e.g.,  2661   p ,  2661   e ,  2661   x ,  2661   t  and  2661   k ) are to be instantiated to include a particular type of container  2565 . More specifically, and as will shortly be discussed, it may be that one of the containers  2565  to be included within all of these types of pod  2661  is specified as being dedicated to the execution of a messaging routine  2414  (e.g., a messaging container  2565   m ) to facilitate communications with one or more others of these types of pod  2661  through one or more of the message queues  2669 . However, and as will shortly be explained in greater detail, the messaging routine  2414  within each of the different types of pod  2661  may be configured to exchange different types of message and through different ones of the message queues  2669 , and this may be dependent on the type of pod  2661 . 
     As an example of a difference among types of pod  2661 , it may be that the pod configuration data  2631  specifies that 1) another container  2565  (e.g., a portal container  2565   p ) within each of the portal pods  2661   p  is to be used for the execution of an instance of the portal component  2549 ; 2) another container  2565  (e.g., the performance container  2565   e ) within each of the performance pods  2661   e  is to be used for the execution of an instance of the performance component  2544 ; 3) another container  2565  (e.g., the scaling container  2565   x ) within the scaling pod  2661   x  is to be used for the execution of an instance of a scaling routine  2412 ; 4) another container  2565  (e.g., the task container  2565   t ) within each of the task pods  2661   t  is to be used for the execution of an instance of a task routine  2440 ; and/or 5) another container  2565  (e.g., the kill container  2565   k ) within each of the kill pods  2661   k  is to be used for the execution of an instance of the kill routine  2415 . 
     As another example of a difference among types of pod  2661 , and as will shortly be discussed, it may be that each of the task pods  2661   t  is to include still another container  2565  (e.g., the resolver container  2565   r ) that is to be used for the execution of an instance of a resolver routine  2413 . Thus, the task pods  2661   t  may include a greater quantity of containers  2565  than any of the other types of pod  2661  (at least among the types of pod  2661  that have been discussed and/or depicted so far). 
     As depicted, it may be that the quantity of the scaling pods  2661   x  and of the kill pods  2661   k  that are allocated by the resource allocation routine  2411  may be less than the quantities of the others. Indeed, as will shortly be explained in greater detail, it is envisioned that relatively few of each of the scaling pod  2661   x  and of the kill pod  2661   k  should be needed compared to the other types of pod  2661 . 
     As also depicted, it may be that the quantity of the task pods  2661   t  that are allocated by the resource allocation routine  2411  may be higher than the quantities of the others. Also, it may be that, in a distributed processing system including multiple interconnected devices such as multiple federated devices  2500 , the task pods  2661  may be the most widely distributed among those multiple devices. Indeed, it is envisioned that the task pods  2661   t  are to be sufficiently numerous that substantial quantities of task pods  2661   t  may be instantiated within each such device to enable numerous job flows to be performed in parallel in which many of those job flows have an order of performance of tasks that afford many opportunities for multiple tasks to be performed in parallel. 
     Turning more specifically to the subject of the instantiation, maintenance and/or uninstantiation of the various types of pod  2661  and/or various types of container  2565 , as previously discussed, the resource allocation routine  2411  may dynamically increase and/or decrease the quantities of these various types of pod  2661  and/or container  2565  in response to the changing availability of at least the federated devices  2500  and/or in response to changing levels of availability of various resources provided by at least the federated devices  2500 . In some embodiments, the resource allocation routine  2411  may be provided within indications of such changes in available devices and/or in available resources provided by devices in the device data  2531 . More specifically, the device data  2531  may include, and not be limited to, indications of what devices  2500  and/or  2600  are part of the distributed processing system  2000 , which devices  2500  and/or  2600  are currently available, specific resources provided by each device  2500  and/or  2600 , and/or current levels of availability of each such resource. As previously discussed, such information within the device data  2531  may be repeatedly updated by the device allocation routine  2519 , which may monitor each of the devices  2500  and/or  2600  to recurringly receive indications of changes in such information, therefrom. 
     Based on such information within the device data  2531  concerning available devices  2500  and/or  2600  and/or available resources, processor(s)  2550  that execute the resource allocation routine  2411  may determine how many of each type of pod  2661  and/or container  2565  is to be instantiated, and within which particular devices  2500  and/or  2600 . Additionally, indications of how many of each type of pod  2661  and/or container  2565 , and which device  2500  and/or  2600  each is instantiated within, may be maintained and repeatedly updated within the pod configuration data  2631 . 
     However, as has also been discussed, in some embodiments, in may be that VMs  2505  are selectively instantiated within at least a subset of at least the federated devices  2500 , and under the control of a separate and distinct VM allocation routine  2511 , as another mechanism by which resources of at least the federated devices  2500  are selectively allocated. In such embodiments, the resource allocation routine  2411  may treat the VMs  2505  in the same way as federated devices  2500 , as execution of the resource allocation routine  2411  causes the dynamic instantiation, maintenance and/or uninstantiation of pods  2661  and/or containers  2565  within VMs  2505  based on the same considerations as within federated devices  2500  (e.g., based on changing availability of VMs  2505  and/or based on changing levels of availability of resources within VMs  2505 ). In essence, the resources of at least the federated devices  2500  would be distributed through a two-layered approach that includes the instantiation of VMs  2505  at one layer, and that includes the instantiation of pods  2661  and/or containers  2565  at another layer. 
     In some of such embodiments, the allocation of resources through the instantiation of VMs  2505  may be done to define the maximum levels of various resources from one or more of the federated devices  2500  that may be consumed in the performance of task routines  2440  and/or the performance of entire job flows  2200  as part of implementing MTC. Such resources of one or more of the federated devices  2500  that are not made available for implementing MTC may, thereby, be made available for entirely different purposes that may have nothing to do MTC. 
     Alternatively or additionally, the allocation of resources through the instantiation of VMs  2505  may be done as part of separating the provision of the resources provided by one or more of the federated devices  2500  to different users and/or groups of users in a manner that may provide improved security. More specifically, each user or group of users may be allocated separate VMs  2505  within which each user or group of users may cause separate sets of pods  2661  and/or containers  2565  to be instantiated as part of each user or group of users separately implementing MTC. In some of such embodiments, this may be part of enabling the provision of controlled amounts of the resources of numerous federated devices  2500  of the distributed processing system  2000  to each of multiple users and/or groups of users in a service arrangement in which there may be a fee per unit of resources used by each user or group of users per unit of time. Additionally, it may be that each user or group of user is able to request to be provided access to a varying quantity of VMs  2505  that allows for a dynamic “on demand” scaling up and scaling down of the resources that are provided to meet what may be fluctuating needs. 
     As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, in some embodiments, it may be that a scholastic, business or governmental entity owns or otherwise possesses and/or controls the distributed processing system  2000 , and may offer its processing resources to other entities under any of a wide variety of paid or unpaid agreements. Thus, it may be such an entity that operates the VM allocation routine  2511  to allocate a separate set of VMs  2505  to each of multiple users and/or groups of users. Each separate set of VMs  2505  may be of a dynamically varying quantity that is to be increased and decreased in accordance with resource needs, or may be of a more static, pre-selected quantity that may change relatively infrequently. Each user or group of users may then operate, within the one or more VMs  2505  that are allocated to them, a separate installation of the resource allocation routine  2411  to dynamically allocate a varying quantity and/or varying variety of pods  2661  and/or containers  2565  as an approach to dividing the resources provided in the one or more VMs  2505  as part of their implementation of MTC. 
     Thus, it may be the instantiation, maintenance and/or uninstantiation of VMs  2505  through the execution of the VM allocation routine  2511  that is more directly responsive to the availability of individual devices  2500  and/or  2600  (and/or the levels of resources provided by each), instead of the instantiation, maintenance and/or uninstantiation of pods  2661  and/or containers  2565 . Instead, it may be that the instantiation, maintenance and/or uninstantiation of pods  2661  and/or containers  2565  is more directly responsive to the availability of individual VMs  2505  (and/or the levels of resources provided by each). 
     More specifically, execution of the VM allocation routine  2511  may cause processor(s)  2550  to determine how many VMs  2505  are to be instantiated, and within which particular devices  2500  and/or  2600 , based on availability of individual devices  2500  and/or  2600 , and/or based on levels of availability of resources provided by each. Additionally, indications of how many of VMs  2505  are instantiated, and which device  2500  and/or  2600  each is instantiated within, may be maintained and repeatedly updated within the device data  2531 . As will shortly be explained, there may be more than one type of VM  2505  differentiated by what resources are provided within each, and this may result in separate indications within the device data  2531  of various aspects of VMs  2505  for each type of VM  2505 . Then, based on such information within the device data  2531  concerning available VMs  2505  and/or available resources within each VM  2505 , processor(s)  2550  that execute the resource allocation routine  2411  may determine how many of each type of pod  2661  and/or container  2565  is to be instantiated, and within which particular VMs  2505 . Additionally, indications of how many of each type of pod  2661  and/or container  2565 , and which VM  2505  each is instantiated within, may be maintained and repeatedly updated within the pod configuration data  2631 . 
     As will be readily recognizable by those skilled in the art, increasing or decreasing the quantity of devices  2500  and/or  2600  of the distributed processing system  2000  may require a relatively lengthy amount of time, as doing so is likely to entail the physical installation, repair, servicing and/or uninstallation of physical computing device hardware. In contrast, increasing or decreasing the quantity of VMs  2505  provided using resources of multiple devices  2500  and/or  2600  may require considerably less time, especially if such increases or deceases are effected by transferring VMs  2505  from use by one user or group of users to use by another user or group of users. Still further, and as will also be readily recognizable by those skilled in the art, increasing or decreasing quantities of pods  2661  and/or containers  2565  instantiated within VMs  2505  may require still less time, especially if the transferring of VMs  2505  between users or groups of users entails the performance of operations to clear associated memory spaces, to reset various operating parameters, and/or to alter what user and/or group of users is granted access thereto. Alternatively or additionally, where VMs  2505  are to be exchanged between users and/or groups of users, there may be a delay in such exchanges to wait for when a VM  2505  is no longer needed by one user or group of users such that it becomes available for being provided to another user or group of users. As part of a mechanism to mitigate such delays, it may be that the device data  2531  specifies a length of time and/or other factor(s) that may be employed to implement a degree of hysteresis in effecting a decrease in the quantity of VMs  2505  that may be made accessible to a particular user or group of users to allow for the possibility that the reduction in need for VMs  2505  may be relatively quickly followed by an increase in need for VMs  2505 . 
     Turning more specifically to  FIG.  21 D , and as previously discussed, it is envisioned that, in some embodiments, there may be a multitude of task types that enable advantage to be taken of various specialized resources that may not be provided across all devices  2500  and/or  2600 , and/or may not be provided across all VMs  2505 . Such specialized resources may include newer forms of processing resource that may be prohibitively expensive to provide across more than a limited subset of device(s)  2500  and/or  2600  (e.g., GPUs and/or neuromorphic devices). Alternatively or additionally, such specialized resources may include data that may, by law, by contract, by physical limitations, etc., be available to just a limited subset of devices  2500  and/or  2600 , such as data sets of sensitive personal information (e.g., medical records subject to access restrictions under the health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA) in the United States, or under the general data protection regulation (GDPR) in the European Union), and/or such as very large data sets that may be stored in a distributed manner across particular storage spaces within particular devices  2500  and/or  2600 . In such situations, it may be that at least a subset of the tasks of a job flow that requires access to such specialized resources must be performed within the limited subset of devices  2500  and/or  2600  in which such specialized resources are available. 
     In support of this, and as previously discussed, there may be a multitude of task types to enable advantage to be taken of various specialized processing resources (e.g., the depicted example GPU  2580  that federated devices  2500   t   2  may include, while other federated devices  2500   t   1  do not), and/or to enable advantage to be taken of access to various specialized federated areas  2566  that store particular objects (e.g., the depicted example federated areas  2566   t   2  that may store specially licensed data objects, in contrasts to other federated areas  2566   t   1  that do not). As depicted, such specialized resources may be accessible only to a subset of task pods  2661   t  that may be designated as a separate type of task pod (e.g., the depicted task pods  2661   t   2  for “type 2”), and that may need to be instantiated within a limited subset of devices (e.g., the depicted federated devices  2500   t   2  for “type 2”), unlike the more common and/or more widely instantiated task pods  2661   t   1  (for “type 1”) that may be able to be instantiated more widely within a wider variety of devices, including both of the depicted types of federated devices  2500   t   1  and  2500   t   2 . 
     Alternatively, and as also depicted, where the resources of the depicted federated devices  2500   t   1  and  2500   t   2  are allocated through the instantiation of VMs  2505  (e.g., the depicted VMs  2505   t   2  and  2505   t   1 ), it may be that task pods  2661   t   2  that support the execution of the depicted “type 2” task routines  2440   t   2  may need to be instantiated within one of the “type 2” VMs  2505   t   2  that are instantiated just within the federated device(s)  2500   t   2  that provide the particular specialized resource(s) required to support the performance of “type 2” tasks. To enable access to those specialized resource(s) available just within the “type 2” federated devices  2500   t   2 , the “type 2” VM(s)  2505   t   2  may be required to be specifically configured to provide access thereto, from within the “type 2” VM(s)  2505   t   2 , for executable routines that are executed therein, such as “type 2” task routines  2440   t   2  that are executed within “type 2” task containers  2565   t   2  within “type 2” task pods  2661   t   2 . 
     Turning to  FIGS.  21 E-F , in executing the message broker routine  2419 , the processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  may be caused to instantiate and maintain a set of message queues  2669  that, as depicted, may include a job queue  2669   j , a task queue  2669   t , a job kill queue  2669   jk , a task kill queue  2669   tk  and/or a scaling queue  2669   x . As previously discussed, the message broker routine  2419  may be one that is selected for its ability to implement the widely used Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP), such as RabbitMQ. In some embodiments, the messages that are exchanged may be generated to conform to any of a variety of types of format, including and not limited to a human-readable format such as JSON. 
     As depicted, each one of the different message queues  2669   j ,  2669   t ,  2669   jk ,  2669   tk  and  2669   x  may be made accessible to and utilized by different subsets of the different types of pod  2661   p ,  2661   e ,  2661   x ,  2661   t  and  2661   k . More specifically, the job queue  2669   j  may be accessible to and utilized by the portal pods  2661   p  and the performance pods  2661   e ; the task queue  2669   t  may be accessible to and utilized by the performance pods  2661   e  and the task pods  2661   t ; the job kill queue  2669   jk  may be solely accessible to and utilized by the portal pods  2661   p ; the task kill queue  2669   tk  may be accessible to and utilized by the portal pods  2661   p , the task pods  2661   t  and the kill pod(s)  2661   k ; and the scaling queue  2669   x  may be accessible to and utilized by the performance pods  2661   e  and the scaling pod  2661   x.    
     As previously discussed, in some embodiments, each of the different types of pod  2661  may be provided with various environment variables relevant to that type of pod  2661  when instantiated by the processor(s)  2550  under the control of the resource allocation routine  2411 . As also previously discussed, such environment variables may be made accessible to routines executed within container(s)  2565  within each of the types of pod  2661  through use of a callable query procedure. Thus, in some embodiments, it may be that such provision of environment variables may be used to provide each type of pod with environment variable(s) specifying the particular message queue(s)  2669  that each is to use for messaging communications. Within each such pod  2661 , the instance of the messaging routine  2414  therein may cause the use of the callable query procedure to (from within its container  2565 ) request the provision of one or more environment variables that convey, to that instance of the messaging routine  2414 , an indication of what message queue(s)  2669  are to be used for messaging communications with the environment external to that pod  2661 . 
     As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, each such message queue  2669   j ,  2669   t ,  2669   jk ,  2669   tk  and  2669   x  functions essentially as a set of storage spaces for the storage of messages. Thus, when a message is “output” onto the one of these queues  2669 , that message is actually being stored within that queue, and may remain stored therein until actively removed therefrom (or perhaps, until the upper limit of the queue&#39;s capacity is reached such that earlier messages may be overwritten, unless the queue&#39;s capacity is not fixed or is otherwise expandable to a degree based on available storage resources). This also applies where a message is said to be “exchanged” through one of these queues  2669  - - - it is “exchanged” in the sense that it is stored within one of these queues  2669  and is at least detected as being stored therein and accessed to retrieve its contents, and may then also be removed therefrom (although such removal may be a separate action such that it is not coincident with being accessed to read its contents). Again, and as will be explained in greater detail, many of the messages that may be output from various ones of the pods  2661  onto various ones of the message queues  2669  may not be specifically directed at another particular one of the pods  2661 . This is reflective of the fact that, in the middle of the performance of a job flow, one or more of the pods  2661  of any of the various types may be uninstantiated by the resource allocation routine  2411 . Thus, it may simply not be possible to rely on any particular one of the pods  2661  to remain instantiated throughout the performance of a job flow. Stated differently, which pods  2661  are involved in different aspects of the performance of a job flow may change throughout the time that job flow is being performed, depending on which pods  2661  are instantiated and/or are available for use. 
     Turning to  FIGS.  21 G-H , it should be noted that, while each of the queues  2669   j ,  2669   jk ,  2669   t ,  2669   tk  and  2669   x  are depicted in a number of the figures herein as single bi-directional queues, other embodiments are possible in which one or more of these queues  2669  may actually be implemented as multiple sub-queues, and/or in which there may be multiple ones of one or more of these queues  2669 . 
     By way of example, and turning more specifically to  FIG.  21 G , in some embodiments, the job queue  2669   j  may actually be implemented as a pair of uni-directional sub-queues  2669   j - req  and  2669   j - rsp  by which messages being exchanged in opposite directions between the portal pods  2661   p  and the performance pods  2661   e  are conveyed via entirely separate pathways. More specifically, a message  2434  conveying a request (e.g., a request to perform a job flow) that originates from one of the portal pods  2661   p  may be conveyed to the performance pods  2661   e  via the depicted request sub-queue  2669   j - req , while a message  2434  conveying a response to such a request (e.g., an indication that the performance of a job flow is in progress or has been completed) may be conveyed in the opposite direction from one of the performance pods  2661   e  to the portal pods  2661   p  via the depicted response sub-queue  2669   j - rsp.    
     In such embodiments, it may be that these two sub-queues  2669   j - req  and  2669   j - rsp  that make up the job queue  2669   j  are intended to be maintained constantly throughout the time the distributed processing system  2000  is operated to perform job flows. So, even as individual portal pods  2661   p  and/or individual performance pods  2661   e  are instantiated and/or uninstantiated, these sub-queues  2669   j - req  and  2669   j - rsp  may be intended to remain in place. Thus, as each portal pod  2661   p  and each performance pod  2661   e  is instantiated, one or more environment variables may be employed to provide the addresses of, or other form of pointers to, the storage locations of these two sub-queues  2669   j - req  and  2669   j - rsp  to their instances of the messaging routine  2414 . 
     By way of another example, and turning more specifically to  FIG.  21 H , in some embodiments, there may be multiple separate ones of the task queue  2669   t , with each serving to convey messages  2434  between the performance pods  2661   e  and task pods  2661   t  of a different single type of task and task routine  2440 . More specifically, and as depicted, where there are two types of task routine  2440   t   1  and  2440   t   2  that are each supported by different types of task container  2565   t   1  and  2565   t   2  within different types of task pod  2661   t   1  and  2661   t   2 , respectively, there may be a separate task queue  2669   t   1  and a separate task queue  2669   t   2  to enable entirely separate communications between the performance pods  2661   e  and the task pods  2661   t   1  and  2661   t   2 , respectively. 
     This may be deemed a more desirable solution to separating communications involving different task types than relying on indications of task type in messages concerning the performances of tasks. Use of indications of task types in messages require the time-consuming de-queuing, reading and/or re-queuing of messages by task pods  2661   t  just to identify the task type that each is associated with. Further, there is the possibility that the same task pod  2661   t  may be caused to repeatedly, de-queue, read and/or re-queue the same message, repeatedly, thereby undesirably consuming still more time. Causing messages concerning different task types to be exchanged on separate task queues that are each assigned to a particular task type ensures that all messages received by task pods  2661   t  of a particular task type will be messages that are associated with just that particular task type, thereby eliminating the need for such time-consuming operations. 
     By way of still another example, and turning more specifically to  FIG.  21 I , in some embodiments, the task queue  2669   t  by which messages  2434  are exchanged between the performance pods  2661   e  and the task pods  2661   t  may be implemented as a combination of a single group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  and multiple side-by-side individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind . More specifically, a message  2434  conveying a request (e.g., a request to perform a task through the execution of a task routine  2440 ) that originates from any one of the performance pods  2661   e  may be conveyed to all of the task pods  2661   t  via the single group sub-queue  2669   t - grp . In contrast, a message  2434  conveying a response to such a request (e.g., an indication that the performance of a task has been completed) that originates from any one of the task pods  2661   t  may be conveyed back to all of the performance pods  2661   e  via the one of the multiple individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind  that corresponds to that one task pod  2661   t . Stated differently, while all of task pods  2661   t  may share access to the same single group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  by which messages may be exchanged with any of the performance pods  2661   e  in a manner that is visible to all of the other task pods  2661   t , each task pod  2661   t  has access to just one of the individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind  by which messages may be exchanged with any of the performance pods  2669   e  in a manner that is not visible to any of the other task pods  2669   t.    
     In such embodiments, it may be that the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  that makes up part of the task queue  2669   t  is at least intended to be maintained constantly throughout the time the distributed processing system  2000  is operated to perform job flows. So, even as individual performance pods  2661   e  and/or task pods  2661   t  are instantiated and/or uninstantiated, the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  may be intended to remain in place. Thus, as each performance pod  2661   e  and each task pod  2661   t  is instantiated, one or more environment variables may be employed to provide the addresses of, or other form of pointer to, the storage locations of the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  to its instance of the messaging routine  2414 . 
     In contrast, in such environments, it may be that each of the individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind  that makes up another part of the task queue  2669   t  is intended to exist on a temporary basis, such as for the duration of the execution of a task routine  2440 . More specifically, it may be that each individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind  is instantiated as part of its corresponding task pod  2661   t  providing an indication that the execution of a task routine  2440  to perform a task has been “claimed” by that task pod  2661   t  and/or is in progress (e.g., that task pod  2661   t  has acceded to the request for any available task pod to execute that task routine  2440  to perform that task). Correspondingly, it may be that each individual sub-queue  2996   t - ind  is uninstantiated as part of its corresponding task pod  2661   t  providing an indication that the execution of a task routine  2440  to perform a task has been completed. So, each of the individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind  may be relatively frequently instantiated and/or uninstantiated as its corresponding task pod  2661   t  commences and/or completes, respectively, the execution of a task routine  2440 . Thus, as each performance pod  2661   e  is instantiated, one or more environment variables may be employed to provide the addresses of, or other form of pointers to, the storage locations of at which all of the multiple individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind  are to be repeatedly instantiated and uninstantiated to its instance of the messaging routine  2414 . Also, as each task pod  2661   t  is instantiated, one or more environment variables may be employed to provide the addresses of, or other form of pointer to, the storage locations at which its corresponding one of the multiple individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind  is to be repeatedly instantiated and uninstantiated. 
     In some embodiments, it may be the messaging routine  2414  within each of the task pods  2661   t  that cooperates with the message broker routine  2419  to perform each instantiation and/or uninstantiation of its corresponding individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind . Regardless of the exact mechanism by which each individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind  is repeatedly instantiated and/or uninstantiated, in some embodiments, and as will be explained in greater detail, each occurrence of instantiation and/or uninstantiation of each individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind  may serve to provide at least one of the performance pods  2661   e  with an indication of the status of the corresponding task pod  2661   t.    
     By way of yet another example, and turning more specifically to  FIG.  21 J , in some embodiments, it may be that there are multiple task queues  2669   t  to support multiple task types, as just discussed in reference to  FIG.  21 H , and that, additionally, at least one of those multiple task queues  2669   t  is made up of a combination of single group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  and a set of individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind  as just discussed in reference to  FIG.  21 I . As will shortly be explained in greater detail, it may be that such an implementation of multiple task queues may be deemed desirable to support a task type in which individual tasks are performed using multiple instances of a task routine  2440  at least partially in parallel with multiple blocks of data of a relatively large data set  2330 / 2370 , and/or to generate multiple blocks of data of a relatively large result report  2770 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  21 K , each of the portal pods  2661   p  may serve to provide a portal container  2565   p  in which an instance of the portal component  2549  may be executed. As has been previously discussed, in executing the portal component  2549 , processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  may be caused to operate one or more of the network interfaces  2590  thereof to provide a portal accessible by other devices via the network  2999  (e.g., the source device(s)  2100  and/or the reviewing device(s)  2800 ), and through which requests may be received to perform various operations, including the performance of job flows. With multiple instances of the portal component  2549  being separately executed in multiple portal containers  2565   p  across multiple ones of the portal pods  2661   p , different cores  2555  of the processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  that execute different ones of the multiple instances of the portal component  2549  may be caused to share in maintaining the portal on the network  2999 , and/or in receiving and/or responding to requests from other devices to perform various operations. 
     Any of a variety of types of portal may be provided that may use any of a variety of types of protocol and/or applications programming interface (API). By way of example, the portal may be implemented as a secure webpage portal employing the hypertext transfer protocol over secure sockets layer (HTTPS) that requires the provision of a password and/or other security credentials. Alternatively or additionally, the portal may employ an implementation of representational state transfer (REST or RESTful) API. Also alternatively or additionally, the portal may be configured to receive requests to perform operations that have formatting, syntax and/or other characteristics selected to conform to one or more industry specifications for communications between devices, such as one or more of the versions of the Message-Passing Interface (MPI) specification promulgated by the MPI Forum, a cooperative venture by numerous governmental, corporate and academic entities. 
     Regardless of the exact manner in which a portal may be implemented, and/or what protocol(s) and/or API(s) may be used, execution of the instance(s) of the portal component  2549  may cause core(s)  2555  of the processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  to refer to indications stored within the portal data  2539  of what persons, entities and/or machines are authorized to be granted access to the various services that may be provided by the federated device(s)  2500 , as has been previously discussed. Again, such indications may include indications of security credentials expected to be provided by such persons, entities and/or machines. In some embodiments, such indications within the portal data  2539  may be organized into a database of accounts that are each associated with an entity with which particular persons and/or devices may be associated. Security credentials presented by other devices across the network  2999  to the portal may be evaluated against such information stored within the portal data  2539  to determine whether access is to be granted. 
     Presuming access has been granted such that a request for a performance of a job flow is accepted from another device across the network  2999 , then a record of details of the request, including the current status of the requested job flow performance, may be maintained within the request data  2535 . In some embodiments, the request data  2535  may be implemented as a database to which access is shared by all of the instances of the portal component  2549  that are each being executed within a separate portal container  2565   p  within a separate portal pod  2661   p . As will be explained in greater detail, the portal component  2549  may also (in cooperation with the selection component  2543  and/or the database component  2545  of the control routine  2540 ) employ whatever identifiers may have been provided in the request to retrieve identifier(s) of one or more objects needed for the requested performance of the job flow, and/or to retrieve one or more of such objects (e.g., the job flow definition  2220  of the requested job flow) from federated area(s)  2566 . As will also be explained in greater detail, the portal component  2549  may further use whatever identifiers, and/or objects were received in the request and/or retrieved from federated area(s)  2566 , in an exchange of messages through the job queue  2669   j  with an available one of the instances of the performance component  2544  being executed within a performance container  2565   e  of a performance pod  2661   e  to cause commencement of the requested performance of the job flow, and to monitor the status of that requested performance. Again, such exchanges with the job queue  2669   j  may be through the instance of the messaging routine  2514  that is executed within the corresponding messaging container  2565   m.    
     In embodiments in which different types of pod  2661  are provided with various environment variables relevant to that type of pod  2661  when instantiated, as discussed above, it may be that such environment variables provided to each portal pod  2661   p  may include an environment variable that species a maximum quantity of requests received from other devices that are able to be concurrently supported by each instance of the portal pod  2661   p . Such an environment variable may be made accessible to the instance of the portal component  2549  executed within the portal container  2565   p  within each instance of the portal pod  2661   p . In some of such embodiments, such an environment variable may be used, in conjunction with a specified maximum quantity of instances of the portal pod  2661   p , as a mechanism to limit the overall quantity of received requests that are able to be concurrently supported by federated device(s)  2500  of the distributed processing system  2000 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  21 L , each of the performance pods  2661   e  may serve to provide a performance container  2565   e  in which an instance of the performance component  2544  may be executed. As has been previously discussed, in executing the performance component  2544 , processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  may be caused to: 1) coordinate the retrieval of the objects necessary to perform a job flow from federated area(s)  2566 ; 2) derive an order of performance of the tasks of the job flow that is based on indications of dependencies among the tasks indicated in the flow definition  2225  of the job flow definition  2220 , and that takes advantage of opportunities for parallel performances of tasks; and/or 3) coordinate the execution of the task routines  2440  to enact the performances of those tasks in the derived order. 
     As previously discussed, the message that is output by the instance of the portal component  2549  onto the job queue  2669   j  to convey the received request to perform a job flow may include a combination of object(s) retrieved from federated area(s)  2566  (e.g., the job flow definition  2220  of the requested job flow) and/or identifiers of further object(s) that are also to be retrieved from the federated area(s)  2566 . In some embodiments, an available one of the instances of the performance component  2544  that accepts that message through the job queue  2669   j  may receive at least the job flow definition  2220  and/or an instance log  2720  that documents an instance of a past performance of the corresponding job flow  2200  directly from the message. However, in alternate embodiments, it may be that an available one of the instances of the performance component  2544  that accepts that message through the job queue  2669   j  uses whatever identifiers are provided in the message to, itself, obtain at least the job flow definition  2220  and/or such an instance log  2720 . In such alternate embodiments, it may be that each of the performance pods  2661   e  is provided with the ability to access federated area(s)  2566  via some form of direct path (not shown), and/or it may be that each of the performance pods  2661   e  is provided with the ability to request retrieval of objects via a portal pod  2661   p  and/or a task pod  2661   t.    
     As will also be explained in greater detail, that instance of the performance component  2544  may then exchange numerous messages with available task pods  2661   t  through the task queue  2669   t  to cause the executions of the task routines  2440  within those available task pods  2661   t  to thereby cause performances of the tasks of the job flow. That instance of the performance component  2544  may include, in such messages to task pods  2661   t , one or more objects received and/or retrieved by the performance component  2544  (e.g., at least a portion of the job flow definition  2220 ), and/or may include one or more identifiers of objects that are to be retrieved from federated area(s)  2566  to enable the execution of task routines  2440  (e.g., the task routines  2440  and/or data objects used as inputs thereto). That instance of the performance component  2544  may also exchange further messages with those task pods  2661   t  through the task queue  2669   t  to monitor the progress of those executions of task routines  2440 . Upon completion of the executions of all of those task routines  2440 , that instance of the performance component  2544  may output a message on the job queue  2669   j  to an available instance of the portal component  2549  indicating the successful completion of the job flow. Again, such exchanges with the job queue  2669   j  and/or the task queue  2669   t  may be through the messaging routine  2514  that is executed within the corresponding messaging container  2565   m.    
     As also depicted in  FIG.  21 L , the scaling pod  2661   x  may serve to provide a scaling container  2565   x  in which a single instance of the scaling routine  2412  may be executed. The single instance of the scaling routine  2412  may receive messages from each of the instances of the performance component  2544  that are indicative of quantities of types of pod  2661  that are needed to support the performances of various job flows. These messages may be so received via a scaling queue  2669   x  that, unlike the other previously discussed queues  2669 , may be implemented as a unidirectional publishing queue in which messages are only received by the scaling routine  2412  from the instances of the performance component  2544 . 
     As each of the instances of the performance component  2544  triggers the commencement of execution of each task routine  2440  to perform a task of a job flow, and/or as each of the instances of the performance component  2544  receives an indication of completion of execution of a task routine  2440  of a job flow, each of the instances of the performance component  2544  may transmit a message via the scaling queue  2669   x  to the scaling routine  2412  to indicate what quantity of each type of pod  2661  is needed at that time to properly support the performances of job flows that are currently in the process of being performed through the execution of task routine(s)  2440  to perform the tasks thereof. As each such message is received by the scaling routine  2412 , it may combine the most recently received indications of requirements for quantities of types of pod  2661  received from each of the instances of the performance component  2544  to generate an aggregate indication of the needed quantities of types of pods  2661  to be provided as an input to the resource allocation routine  2411 . 
     As has been discussed, in embodiments in which VMs  2505  are used as part allocating resources, the scaling routine  2412  may also recurringly provide updated indications of needed quantities of VMs  2505  to the VM allocation component  2511 . In embodiments in which the VM allocation component  2511  is provided with information concerning maximum quantities of types of pod  2661  that are able to be supported within each VM  2505 , the VM allocation component  2511  may adjust the overall quantity of VMs  2505  based on the same indications of needed quantities of pods  2661  that are provided to the resource allocation routine  2411 . Alternatively, it may be that the scaling routine  2412  is provided with information concerning maximum quantities of types of pod  2661  that are able to be supported within each VM  2505 , and may use that information to provide recurringly updated indications of quantities of the VMs  2505  to the VM allocation component  2511 . 
     As has also been discussed, there may be multiple types of pod  2661 , each of which may be configured differently to better enable its use in supporting the execution of a different type of executable routine within one of its containers  2565 . In particular, in addition to the different types of pod  2661  that may be instantiated by the resource allocation routine  2411  to support the execution of the portal component  2549 , the performance component  2544 , the scaling routine  2412  and/or the kill routine  2415 , there may be multiple types of the task pod  2661   t  having differing features to support the execution of task routines  2440  having different characteristics. By way of example, there may be different types of task pod  2661   t  to support task routines  2440  written in different languages, and/or different types of task pod  2661   t  to support task routines  2440  that use various different services (e.g., types that are provided with access to federated areas  2566  versus types that are not provided with such access). 
     Over time, there may occasionally be a need to alter the relative quantities of the portal pods  2661   p , the performance pods  2661   e  and/or the task pods  2661   t  to accommodate changing quantities of external devices  2100  or  2800  accessing objects stored within federated areas  2566 , changing quantities of job flows being performed, and/or changing quantities of task routines  2440  being executed. For example, it may be that the scaling routine  2412  receives messages from one or more instances of the performance component  2544  conveying a need to change the quantity of performance pods  2661   e  that are needed to better support the performance of more or fewer job flows. Alternatively or additionally, over time, there may occasionally be a need to alter the relative quantities of the different types of task pod  2661   t  as the particular combination of task routines that are executed change throughout the performance of one or more job flows. For example, it may be that the scaling routine  2412  receives messages from one or more instances of the performance component  2544  conveying a need for more task pods  2661   t  that are configured to support the execution of task routines  2440  written in one language, and fewer task pods  2661   t  that are configured to support the execution of task routines  2440  written in another language. 
     In some embodiments, such an ability to control the quantity of a particular type of task pod  2661   t  may be employed to cause serialization of the execution of task routines  2440  of a corresponding particular type in which each such task routine  2440  is caused to be executed sequentially within the very same task pod  2661   t . This may be deemed desirable where, as previously discussed, a shared memory space  2665  has been instantiated as part of enabling two task routines that have been written in the same secondary language to more efficiently exchange one or more data objects therebetween. Again, as previously discussed, normal use of task pods  2661   t  may likely result in one of those two task routines  2440  being executed within one task pod  2661   t  and storing those data object(s) within a federated area  2566  in a process that may require one or more types of conversion to be performed thereon, followed by the other of those two task routines  2440  being executed within a different task pod  2661   t  with those same data object(s) needing to be retrieved from that federated area  2566  in a process that may require the one or more conversions to be reversed. Again, the performances of both the conversion(s) and the corresponding reverse conversion(s) may consume considerable resources and time such that being able to more directly exchange those same data object(s) between those two task routines  2440  may be deemed more desirable. 
     As previously discussed, resource allocation software, such as Kubernetes, is necessarily reactive to observations of the levels of utilization of various resources provided by computing device(s) as a result of the execution of routines within each of the pods  2661 . Unlike each of the instances of the performance component  2544 , which have access to and directly parse the contents of the job flow definitions  2220 , the resource allocation routine  2411  may have no such access to such indications of what the upcoming resource requirements will be, and/or may not have been written to take advantage of such information. By preemptively providing the resource allocation routine  2411  with such indications of such changing needs, the resource allocation routine  2411  is then given such insights such that it is able to act more proactively, instead of being limited to acting in response to its observations of the degree to which different types of pods  2661  have already been caused to be used more or used less, and/or the degree to which each pod  2661  of each type is being caused to consume more or fewer resources. 
     As previously discussed, in some embodiments, a relatively lengthy period of time may be required by the resource allocation routine  2411  to instantiate a particular type of pod  2661  when there isn&#39;t already at least one of that type of pod  2661  already currently instantiated. To at least limit the occasions on which such a lengthy time period must be incurred, there may be a hysteresis or other form of delay imposed on the scaling routine  2412  providing the resource allocation routine  2411  with an indication that none of a particular type of pod  2661  is needed such that the resource allocation routine  2411  may uninstantiate all of that type of pod  2661 . Instead, the scaling routine  2412  may provide an initial indication to the resource allocation routine  2411  that only one of the particular type of pod  2661  is needed, before providing an indication that none of the particular type of pod  2661  are needed after the pre-selected delay. 
     To address the possibility that one of the performance pods  2661   e  from which the scaling routine  2412  receives messages via the scaling queue  2669   x  may be uninstantiated by the resource allocation routine  2411 , the information provided in each such message may be assigned a limited lifespan for being deemed valid by the scaling routine  2412 . More specifically, if information received from a particular one of the performance pods  2661   e  is not updated with new information from the same performance pod  2661   e  within a preselected threshold period of time, then the information last received that same performance pod  2661   e  may be deemed invalid, and may no longer be taken into account in combining information from the performance pods  2661   e  for being provided to the resource allocation routine  2411 . This may be based on a presumption that, following the uninstantiation of one of the performance pods  2661   e , the remaining performance pods  2661   e  would take over controlling the performance of whatever job flows were being controlled from the now uninstantiated performance pod  2661   e , and that the information sent by one or more of the remaining ones of the performance pods  2661   e  would begin to reflect the additional resource requirements of associated with effecting such a take over. 
     In embodiments in which different types of pod  2661  are provided with various environment variables relevant to that type of pod  2661  when instantiated, as discussed above, it may be that such environment variables provided to each performance pod  2661   e  may include an environment variable that specifies a maximum quantity of tasks of a job flow that may be executed in parallel. More specifically, in embodiments in which there may be multiple different types of task pod  2661   t , such environment variables provided to each performance pod  2661   e  may include an environment variable that specifies a maximum quantity of tasks of a particular type corresponding to one of the types of task pod  2661   t  that may be executed in parallel, such as tasks written in a particular programming language and/or that require the use of a particular relatively limited resource. 
     Alternatively or additionally, in embodiments in which different types of pod  2661  are provided with various environment variables relevant to that type of pod  2661  when instantiated, as discussed above, it may be that such environment variables provided to the scaling pod  2661   x  may include an environment variable that specifies a minimum or maximum quantity of task pods  2661   t , and/or a minimum or maximum quantity of a particular type of task pod  2661   t , that may be maintained for use in executing task routines  2440 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  21 M , each of the task pods  2661   t  may serve to provide a task container  2565   t  in which an instance of a task routine  2440  retrieved from a federated area  2566  may be executed. As depicted, in addition to being instantiated to include a message container  2565   m  within which an instance of the messaging routine  2414  is executed, each of the task pods  2661   t  may be instantiated to also include a resolver container  2565   r  in which an instance of the resolver routine  2413  may be executed to provide the ability to directly access federated area(s)  2566  to directly retrieve such objects as task routines  2440  and/or data objects to be used as input thereto. Such a retrieved task routine  2440  may then be executed within the task container  2565   t  that is also included within each task pod  2661   t , and such retrieved data objects may serve as inputs to such execution. 
     As previously discussed, any of a variety of types of request to perform a job flow may be received, including requests that lead to the performance of the job flow with the most recent versions of task routines  2440  and requests that lead to the performance of the job flow with specific versions of task routines  2440  selected to match the versions used in a previous performance. Thus, a message received from a performance pod  2661   e  via the task queue  2669   t  to perform a task may include an identifier of the task to be performed and/or an identifier of the particular task routine  2440  that is to be executed to perform the task. Regardless of the particular identifier that is so provided, and as will be explained in greater detail, the corresponding instance of the resolver routine  2413  may use that identifier to access one or more federated areas  2566  to locate and retrieve a copy of an appropriate version of task routine  2440  needed for the requested task performance. 
     As will also be explained in greater detail, that task pod  2661   t  may exchange further messages with that performance pod  2661   e  to enable monitoring of the progress of execution of the retrieved task routine  2440  within that task pod  2661   t . Alternatively or additionally, that task pod  2661   t  may transmit further messages indicative of the status of the execution of the task routine  2440  via the task kill queue  2669   tk  to a kill pod  2661   k . Such messages sent to the kill pod  2661   k  may include indications of resources consumed, elapsed time, instances of failure in execution of the task routine  2440  and/or efforts to re-attempt execution of the task routine  2440  to provide the kill pod  2661   k  with information needed to make a determination as to whether or not the execution of the task routine  2440  exhibits one or more characteristics that may serve as the basis for ceasing the execution of at least the task routine  2440 , if not also ceasing the performance of the entire job flow. Again, such exchanges with the task queue  2669   t  and/or the task kill queue  2669   tk  may be through the messaging routine  2514  that is executed within the corresponding messaging container  2565   m.    
     In embodiments in which different types of pod  2661  are provided with various environment variables relevant to that type of pod  2661  when instantiated, as discussed above, it may be that such environment variables provided to each task pod  2661   t  may include an environment variable that specifies which type of task pod  2661   t  that each task pod  2661   t  may have been instantiated to become. By way of example, in embodiments in which there is more than one type of task pod  2661   t  based on which programming language is supported, it may be that an environment variable provided to each task pod  2661   t  specifies the programming language(s) that are to be supported for task routines  2440  that are executed therein, and this may serve as the basis for which language interpretation capabilities are to be enabled therein. 
     Turning to  FIG.  21 N , the kill pod  2661   k  may serve to provide a kill container  2565   k  in which an instance of the kill routine  2415  may be executed. The kill routine  2415  may monitor the messages output by each of the task pods  2661   t  onto the task kill queue  2669   tk  (as discussed just above) to monitor the status of the execution of task routines  2440  within each of task pods  2661   t . More specifically, and by way of example, the kill routine  2415  may monitor for a series of messages from task pods  2661   t  indicating that attempts to execute a particular task routine  2440  in connection with a particular job flow have failed a pre-selected quantity of times that meets a predetermined threshold quantity for triggering the cancellation of that job flow. Alternatively or additionally, and by way of another example, the kill routine  2415  may monitor for messages indicating that one or more aspects of the execution of a particular task routine  2440  in connection with a particular job flow has exceeded one or more limitations such that it can be presumed that the task routine cannot be successfully executed within those limitations, and so the associated job flow must be cancelled. Such limitations may include, and are not limited to, a maximum amount of time in which execution of a task routine is expected to be completed, a maximum level of consumption of a processing and/or storage resource, or a permitted range of behaviors of a task routine. 
     Regarding instances in which the execution of a task routine  2440  fails badly enough to cause a crash within a task container  2565   t  of a task pod  2661   t , the messaging routine  2514  being executed in the corresponding messaging container  2565   m  therein may be triggered to output a message onto the task kill queue  2669   tk  indicating that execution of that task routine  2440  has ended with an error. This may be one of the messages that the kill routine  2415  monitors the task kill queue  2565   t  for, and it may include an identifier of the task routine  2440  that crashed, of the task that was to be performed through execution of that task routine  2440 , and/or the job flow identifier  2221  of the job flow  2200  that the attempted execution of that task routine  2440  is associated with. The output of such a message may then be followed by an uninstantiation of that task pod  2661   t , which may then trigger the resource allocation routine  2411  to instantiate a new task pod  2661   t  as a replacement. It may be deemed desirable for a task pod  2661   t  in which such a crash has occurred to be uninstantiated, rather than to attempt to use that same task pod  2661   t  in re-attempting execution of the same routine or in executing another routine, as the crash that occurred therein may have adversely affected various aspects of the state of the task container  2565   t  therein and/or of that task pod  2661   t  such that unpredictable results may arise if that same task container  2565   t  within that same task pod  2661   t  is used again. 
     Upon observing messages on the task kill queue  2669   tk  that indicate either 1) that the predetermined quantity of unsuccessful attempts have been made to execute a particular task routine  2440  associated with a particular job flow has occurred, or 2) that an attempt to execute the particular task routine  2440  associated with the particular job resulted in exceeding one or more limitations, further execution of the kill routine  2415  may cause core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  of the one or more federated devices to respond by outputting a message onto the task kill queue  2669   tk  that conveys a command to all task pods  2661   t  in which any task routine  2440  is being executed to perform a task of that same job flow to cease any further execution of such task routines  2440 . Such a message may include the job flow identifier  2221  to specify that job flow. 
     Again, each of the task pods  2661   t  may have access to the task kill queue  2669   tk  in addition to having access to the task queue  2669   t . Each of the task pods  2661   t  may monitor the task kill queue  2669   tk  for such messages conveying such commands to cease the execution of various task routines  2440 . Upon detecting the output of the message by the kill routine  2415  to cease the execution of all task routines  2440  associated with that job flow, each of the task pods  2661   t  in which such a task routine  2440  is currently being executed may: 1) cease such execution, 2) transmit a message onto the task queue  2669   t  indicating the cessation of execution of the task routine  2440  for reasons of that execution having been commanded to be canceled, and 3) cause its own uninstantiation. 
     The receipt, by an instance of the performance component  2544  that is coordinating the performance of that job flow, of one or more of such messages from one or more of the task pods  2661   t  indicating such cessation(s) of execution of task routine(s) associated with that job flow as a result of being commanded to do so, may cause that instance of the performance component  2544  to  1 ) cease to transmit any further messages to any task pods  2661   t  to perform any more task routines  2440  in connection with that job flow, and 2) output a message via the job queue  2669   j  to an available instance of the portal component  2549  indicating the cancellation of that job flow for reasons of errors having been encountered in attempting to perform it. That available instance of the portal component  2549  may relay such an indication onward to the device from which the request was received to perform it. Again, such exchanges with the task kill queue  2669   tk  may be through the messaging routine  2414  that is executed within the corresponding messaging container  2565   m.    
     In embodiments in which different types of pod  2661  are provided with various environment variables relevant to that type of pod  2661  when instantiated, as discussed above, it may be that such environment variables provided to each kill pod  2661   k  may include environment variable(s) that specify one or more of the various conditions under which the kill routine  2415  may be triggered to cause the cessation of execution of a task routine  2440 , and/or cause the cessation of performance of the entire associated job flow. 
       FIGS.  22 A,  22 B,  22 C and  22 D , together, illustrate various aspects of exchanging objects in an architecture employing both pod-based resource allocation and message-based coordination of MTC, such as the exemplary internal architecture of  FIGS.  21 A-N . More specifically,  FIG.  22 A  depicts an example exchange of objects between the federated device(s)  2500  and a requesting device  2100  or  2800  in a pod-based environment while entirely circumventing the use of message-based coordination;  FIG.  22 B  depicts an example of a similar exchange in which some degree of message-based coordination may be used; and  FIGS.  22 C and  22 D , together, depict aspects of various conversions that may be performed on various objects as part of such exchanges. 
     Turning to  FIG.  22 A , one of the one or more instances of the portal component  2549  may receive a request, through the network  2999  from a requesting device  2100  or  2800 , to exchange object(s) with the federated device(s)  2500  in order to either store object(s) within a federated area  2566  or retrieve object(s) therefrom. As has been discussed, the instance of the portal component  2549  that receives this request may do so while being executed by core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  within an portal container  2565   p  within a portal pod  2661   p . That portal pod  2661   p  may have been instantiated with a configuration that enables that instance of the portal component  2549  therein to have access to the network  2999 , as well as having access to such external data structures as the portal data  2539  and/or the request data  2535  that may be shared with other similar instances of the portal component  2549 . As has also been discussed, the same portal pod  2661   p  may have also been instantiated with a configuration to have a messaging container  2565   m  within which an instance of the messaging routine  2414  is executed to provide the instance of the portal component  2549  with access to particular message queues  2669 . 
     Upon receiving the exchange request, and as previously discussed, the determination may be made as to whether or not the request is authorized using information concerning authorized individual persons, individual machines, institutions, corporations, government agencies, etc. that is maintained within the portal data  2539 . Presuming the exchange request is authorized, core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  may be caused by execution of the portal component  2549  to generate an entry for the request within the request data  2535  that may include details of what is requested (in this example, an exchange of objects), identifier(s) of the objects to be exchanged and/or of the federated area  2566  to be involved in the exchange, and/or an indication of the current status of the request. As previously discussed in detail, such a request may directly refer to the one or more objects to be exchanged by their individual identifiers, and/or may indirectly refer to the one or more objects by referring with an identifier to a job flow or an instance log that documents the use of particular objects in a past performance of a particular job flow. As another alternative where the request is to store one or more objects, the request, itself, may be accompanied by the one or more objects that are requested to be stored. 
     Following the storage of such an entry for the exchange request within the request data  2535 , and following the storage of an indication therein that the requested exchange is in progress (e.g., a status indication of “running”), core(s)  2555  of processors  2550  may be caused by further execution of the instance of the portal component  2549  to transmit an indication of the “running” status of the requested exchange across the network  2999  to the requesting device  2100  or  2800 . Beyond such a transmission of status, further execution of the instance of the portal component  2549  may cause core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  to actually perform the requested exchange of object(s) between a federated area  2566  and the requesting device  2100  or  2800 . 
     As previously discussed in detail, the performance of such exchanges may entail the execution of instructions of the identifier component  2541 , the admission component  2542 , the selection component  2543 , the database component  2545 , and/or the interpretation component  2547  to cause the performances of various aspects of the requested storage or retrieval of one or more objects. Again, such aspects may entail generating and/or retrieving various identifiers  2221 ,  2222 ,  2241 ,  2331 ,  2332 ,  2441 ,  2442 ,  2721 ,  2722 ,  2771  and/or  2772  to prepare for the storage of objects, and/or to identify and/or locate objects to be retrieved. In support of such exchanges, and of such cooperation among the instance of the portal component  2549 , and each of the components  2541 ,  2542 ,  2543 ,  2545  and/or  2547 , the portal pod  2661   p  may have been further instantiated with a configuration that enables such access to federated area(s)  2566  (as well as to the components  2541 ,  2542 ,  2543 ,  2545  and/or  2547 ) by the instance of the portal component  2549  therein. It may be that, as a result of having and using such relatively direct access to federated area(s)  2566 , such a request to exchange objects may be referred to as a “direct request.” 
     As has been discussed, there is the possibility that ongoing execution of the resource allocation routine  2411  may cause the uninstantiation of the very same portal pod  2661   p  in which the instance of the portal component  2549  that is currently involved in the exchange of objects is executed. As a result, the requested exchange of objects may be interrupted, and this may occur with no coordination with any aspect of the performance of that exchange. The storage of the “running” status indication within the entry for the request within the request data  2535  may serve as an indicator to all currently existing instances of the portal component  2549  within their corresponding portal pods  2661   p  that there is an exchange of objects with a requesting device  2100  or  2800  that is in progress. Such a request entry with such a “running” status indication may include an identifier of the instance of the portal component  2949  (and/or of its portal pod  2661   p ) that at least had been involved in the performance of the exchange to thereby allow other instances of the portal component  2949  to monitor the status of the exchange. Such a “running” indication may also enable another instance portal component  2949  to take over the performance of the exchange where the “running” indication remains while the instance of the portal component  2949  that was previously involved in performing the exchange is uninstantiated. In this way, completion of the performance of the exchange is assured to occur, even if it has been interrupted and must be restarted. 
     Turning to  FIG.  22 B  in addition to  FIG.  22 A , the instance of the portal component  2549  that originally received the exchange request and/or that stored the status indication of “running” within the request data  2535 , may cooperate with the messaging routine  2414  executed within the corresponding messaging container  2565   m  to output a message  2434   eo  indicating the receipt of a request to exchange objects onto the job queue  2669   j . This may be done either in addition to or in lieu of storing the aforedescribed “running” indication within the request data  2535 , and may be serve similar functions, including triggering the taking over of the performance of the exchange following an uninstantiation of the instance of the portal component  2549  that was involved in performing it. As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, a message queue (e.g., the depicted job queue  2669   j ) may function as a set of storage locations where a protocol is employed concerning the output of messages onto the message queue, the monitoring of the ongoing presence of messages on the message queue, and/or the removal of messages from the message queue. Just as other instances of the portal component  2549  may monitor the ongoing presence of the earlier discussed “running” status indication within the request data  2535 , other instances of the portal component  2549  may monitor the ongoing presence of the message  2434   eo  on the job queue  2669   j.    
     Following the completion of the exchange of objects, where the “running” indication was stored within the entry for the exchange request within the request data  2535 , further execution of the instance of the portal component  2549  that is currently involved in the exchange may cause that “running” indication to be replaced within an indication that the exchange has been completed. Alternatively, the request entry may simply be removed from the request data  2535 . However, where the request reception message  2434   eo  was output onto the job queue  2669   j , either in addition to or in lieu of the storage of the “running” indication within the request data  2535 , further execution of the instance of the portal component  2549  that is currently involved in the exchange may cause the message  2434   eo  to be removed from the job queue  2669   j . Through such undoing of either or both of the “running” status indication within the request data  2535  and the message  2434   eo  from the job queue  2669   j , the possibility of an accidental triggering of another instance of the portal component  2549  to attempt to perform the same exchange of objects, again, is thereby prevented. Core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  may then be caused by further execution of the instance of the portal component  2549  that was last involved in performing the exchange of objects to transmit an indication of completion of the exchange via the network  2999  to the requesting device  2100  or  2800 . 
     Turning to  FIGS.  22 C-D  in addition to  FIGS.  22 A-B , regardless of the exact manner in which the current state of the exchange request is stored, and regardless of the exact manner in which the possible uninstantiation of an instance of the portal component  2549  that was involved in performing the exchange request is handled, the aforementioned execution of various ones of the components  2541 ,  2542 ,  2543 ,  2545  and/or  2547  may enable various additional and earlier described functions to be performed in support of an exchange of objects. More specifically, various conversion operations may be performed on objects that are received from the requesting device  2100  or  2800  for storage within federated area(s)  2566 , and/or various reverse conversion operations may be performed on objects that are retrieved from within federated area(s)  2566  for transmission to the requesting device  2100  or  2800 . 
     By way of example, and turning more specifically to  FIG.  22 C , among the objects that may be received from and/or that is transmitted to the requesting device  2100  or  2800  may be a job flow definition or DAG that includes definitions of input and/or output interfaces for tasks routines that are not written in the primary programming language that is supported by default by the distributed processing system  2000 . Instead, it may be that such portions of a job flow definition or DAG includes such definitions written in a secondary programming language that is also supported (though such support may be to a more limited degree), such as the depicted job flow definition  2220   s  or the depicted DAG  2270   s.    
     As previously discussed in reference to  FIG.  18 B , as such a job flow definition  2220   s  or DAG  2270   s  is received from the requesting device  2100  or  2800 , and in preparation for storage in a federated area  2566 , it may be that such portions of the job flow definition  2220   s  or DAG  2270   s  that are written in a secondary programming language may be automatically translated into the primary programming language, thereby generating a corresponding job flow definition  2220   p  or DAG  2270   p . Correspondingly, and as previously discussed in reference to  FIG.  19 F , in preparation for being transmitted to a requesting device  2100  or  2800  with such portions written in a secondary programming language, a job flow definition  2220   p  or DAG  2270   p  that is retrieved from a federated area  2566  with such portions written in the primary programming language may be automatically subjected to a reverse translation in which such portions are translated from the primary programming language and into the secondary programming language, thereby generating the corresponding job flow definition  2220   s  or DAG  2270   s  therefrom. 
     Also by way of example, and turning more specifically to  FIG.  22 D , among the objects that may be received from and/or transmitted to the requesting device  2100  or  2800  may be a data object that is of a size that exceeds a predetermined threshold storage size such that it may at least be deemed undesirable to store it as a single undivided data object within a federated area  2566 . Instead, such a large data object (e.g., the depicted flow input data set  2330 ) may be stored in a divided form (e.g., as the depicted flow input data set  2330   d  made up of multiple data object blocks  2336   d ) within the depicted federated area  2566 . Also, achieving such a divided form may entail performing various conversions to reorganize the contents of such a large data object to better enable its use as an input to multiple instances of a task routine  2440  that may be executed in parallel to perform the same task across all of the blocks into which it is divided. 
     As previously discussed in reference to  FIG.  18 C , as a data object such as the depicted flow input data set  2330  is received, and in preparation for storage in a federated area  2566 , the size of the flow input data set  2330  may be automatically evaluated to determine whether it exceeds the predetermined threshold storage size for storage as a single undivided data object in the federated area  2566 . Again, such a predetermined threshold storage size may be based, at least in part, on storage capacity limitations of individual ones of the storage devices  2600  and/or on upper size limits imposed by file system(s) used by the storage devices  2600 . Stated differently, it may simply not be possible to store such a large flow input data set  2330  as a single undivided data object within the depicted federated area  2566  due to such limitations. In response to being determined to be of such a large size, it may be that the flow input data set  2330  is divided into multiple blocks that are each of a size that is able to be stored. 
     As also previously discussed in reference to  FIG.  18 C , as such a flow input data set  2330  is received, and in preparation for its storage, the internal organization of the contents of the flow input data set  2330  may be analyzed to determine whether it is homogeneous throughout. More precisely, if the internal organization of the contents is determined to be homogeneous such that the contents are organized into a single data structure that is amenable to division into a set of blocks (e.g., a table data structure with rows that each have an identical quantity of storage locations for the storage of data values), then the flow input data set  2330  may then simply be divided into the depicted set of multiple data object blocks  2336   d.    
     However, if the internal organization of the contents is determined to be non-homogenous (e.g., there are multiple separate data structures therein, then one or more conversion operations may be performed on the flow input data set  2330  to reorganize its contents in such a homogeneous manner prior to being divided into the depicted data object blocks  2336   d . Again, and as also discussed in reference to  FIG.  18 C , such reorganization operations may include interpreting information about the flow input data set  2330  as may be available within metadata  2338  that may be incorporated into the flow input data set  2330  (or that may otherwise accompany it). 
     Correspondingly, and as previously discussed in reference to  FIG.  19 G , in preparation for being transmitted to a requesting device  2100  or  2800  as a single undivided data object, a flow input data set  2330   d  that was earlier stored as the depicted multiple data object blocks  2336   d  may be subjected to reversals of such conversion(s), as well as to being reassembled into a single undivided data object. In this way, the depicted flow input data set  2330  may be recreated for being transmitted to the requesting device  2100  or  2800  from the depicted set of data object blocks  2336   d.    
       FIGS.  23 A,  23 B,  23 C,  23 D,  23 E,  23 F,  23 G,  23 H,  23 I,  23 J,  23 K and  23 L , together, illustrate various aspects of performing a job flow in an architecture employing both pod-based resource allocation and message-based coordination of MTC, such as the exemplary internal architecture of  FIGS.  21 A-N . More specifically,  FIGS.  23 A,  23 B and  23 C , together, depict aspects of receiving a request to perform the job flow from a requesting device  2100  or  2800 , and of using messaging to trigger and ensure the performance of the job flow.  FIGS.  23 D,  23 E,  23 F,  23 G and  23 H , together, depict aspects of using messaging to trigger and ensure support for the execution of at least one task routine  2440  to cause the performance of at least one task of the job flow.  FIGS.  23 I,  23 J,  23 K and  23 L , together, depict aspects of using messaging to relay indications of completion of the performance of tasks and/or of the job flow among various pods  2661  and to the requesting device  2100  or  2800 , as well as enabling reallocation of resources for other purposes. 
     Turning to  FIGS.  23 A and  23 B , an instance of one or more instances of the portal component  2549  may receive a request, through the network  2999  from a requesting device  2100  or  2800 , to perform a job flow. Again, the instance of the portal component  2549  that receives this request may be executed by core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  within a portal container  2565   p  within a portal pod  2661   p  providing access to the network  2999 , access to the portal data  2539  and/or the request data  2535 , and/or relatively direct access (e.g., through the components  2542 ,  2543  and/or  2545 ) to federated area(s)  2566 . And again, the same portal pod  2661   p  may have also been instantiated to have a messaging container  2565   m  within which an instance of the messaging routine  2414  is executed to provide the instance of the portal component  2549  with access to particular message queues  2669 . 
     Again, upon receiving the job performance request, a determination may be made as to whether or not the request is authorized using information within the portal data  2539 . Presuming the job performance request is authorized, core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  may be caused by execution of the portal component  2549  to generate an entry for the request within the request data  2535  that may include details of what is requested (in this example, a performance of a job flow), identifier(s) of the job flow and/or of objects associated with a past performance of the job flow, and/or an indication of the current status of the request. As previously discussed in detail, such a request to perform a job flow may be one of a variety of previously discussed types of requests. By way of example, the request may be to perform a job flow with one or more specified data objects as input, and using the latest versions of tasks routines  2440  to perform the various tasks of the job flow. As has been discussed, it may be that the use of the latest versions of tasks routines  2440  in performing a job flow is the default, unless a request to perform a job flow specifies otherwise. An example of a request that includes such a contrary specification may be a request to repeat a particular past performance of a job flow using the very same versions of task routines  2440  as were used in that past performance, as well as the very same data objects as inputs as were used in that past performance. As has been explained, such a request may be made as part of enforcing accountability for the objects used and/or the results achieved in that past performance. 
     Following the storage of such an entry for the request to perform a job flow within the request data  2535 , and following the storage of an indication therein that the requested job flow performance is running, core(s)  2555  of processors  2550  may be caused by further execution of the instance of the portal component  2549  to transmit an indication of status across the network  2999  to the requesting device  2100  or  2800  that the requested job flow performance is in progress (e.g., a status indication of “running”). Beyond such a transmission of status, further execution of the instance of the portal component  2549  may cause core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  to gather further details required to bring about the requested performance. As was previously discussed, regardless of the exact type of request to perform a job flow that is received, there remains a need to retrieve various objects required to either perform that job flow or to provide the results of a past performance of that job flow. To effect such object retrievals, the relatively direct access that each of the instances of the portal component  2549  are provided to federated area(s)  2566  (as described above in connection with  FIGS.  22 A-B ) may be used. Again, such object retrieval(s) may entail the execution of instructions of the admission component  2542 , the selection component  2543  and/or the database component  2545  to cause the performances of various aspects of the requested retrieval of one or more objects. 
     Following such retrieval(s) of a job flow definition  2220  and/or an instance log  2720 , and/or following the retrieval(s) of one or more identifiers, the instance of the portal component  2549  that originally received the job flow performance request and/or that stored the “running” indication within the request data  2535 , may cooperate with the identifier component  2541  to generate globally unique identifiers (GUIDs) for the instance of performance of the job flow that has been requested, and for each instance of performance of a task that is part of the job flow. More specifically, in executing the identifier component  2541 , processor(s)  2550  of the federated device(s)  2500  may be caused to generate a single job flow instance identifier  2701  for the instance of performance of the job flow that has been requested (and that is about to be caused to begin), and a separate task instance identifier  2704  for each instance of performance of a task that is to occur as part of performing the job flow. 
     Following the generation of the job flow instance identifier  2701  and the set of task instance identifiers  2704 , the same instance of the portal component  2549  may cooperate with the messaging routine  2414  executed within the corresponding messaging container  2565   m  to output, onto the job queue  2669   j , a job flow performance request message  2434   pj  that conveys the instruction to perform the job flow. Where the originally received request was simply to perform a particular job flow with one or more particular data objects as input, the request message  2434   pj  may include a copy of the job flow definition  2220  for that job flow, along with data object identifier(s)  2331  of the data object(s) that were specified in the original request to be used as inputs. However, where the originally received request was to repeat a particular past performance of a particular job flow, the request message  2434   pj  may additionally include a copy of the instance log  2720  that documents that particular past performance. The job flow performance request message  2434   pj  may additionally include the job flow instance identifier  2701  and the set of task instance identifiers  2704 . Also, the job flow performance request message  2434   pj  may additionally include the federated area identifier(s)  2569  of each of the federated areas  2566  to which access is authorized, thereby specifying the federated areas  2566  from which objects may be retrieved to perform each task of the job flow. 
     Both the storage of the “running” indication within the request data  2535 , and the output of the request message  2434   pj  onto the job queue  2669   j  may serve similar functions in terms of ensuring that the job flow will be performed as requested, even if the instance of the portal component  2549  that received the original request is uninstantiated as a result of its portal pod  2661   p  being uninstantiated by the resource allocation routine  2411 . However, each of these actions may be of use in addressing such an uninstantiation occurring at different points in time. More specifically, as described just above, the storage of the “running” indication within the request data  2535  may occur relatively immediately after the receipt of the original request, and before the gathering of information needed to generate and output the request message  2434   pj . Thus, if the instance of the portal component  2549  that received the original request is uninstantiated at that point, another instance of the portal component  2549  would be able to rely on the “running” indication within the request data  2535  as providing an indication that there is still a job flow to be performed, and would be able to rely on the lack of the request message  2434   pj  having been output onto the job queue  2669   j  as serving as an indication that resumption of the performance of the job flow should begin with gathering whatever information may be needed from federated area(s)  2566  to generate the message  2434   pj.    
     However, and turning to  FIG.  23 C , if the instance of the portal component  2549  that received the original request is uninstantiated (as depicted with a dashed “X”) after the request message  2434   pj  has been output onto the job queue  2669   j , then another instance of the portal component  2549  would be able to rely on a combination of the “running” indication within the request data  2535 , the fact of the request message  2434   pj  being present on the job queue  2669   j , and the lack of a corresponding message indicating that the performance of the job flow is in progress as serving, together, as an indication that there is still a job flow to be performed, and that the request message  2434   pj  needed to trigger the performance thereof has already been generated and output onto the job queue  2669   j . Thus, in this way, some amount of information concerning the state of the now uninstantiated instance of the portal component  2549  is preserved to be relayed to the instance of the portal component  2549  that takes over for it. 
     Turning to  FIG.  23 D , as previously discussed, it may be that none of the messages that are output onto each of the message queues  2669  (e.g., the job queue  2669   j  that is specifically depicted in  FIG.  23 D ) are actually directed to any particular pod  2661  or any particular instance of a routine being executed within a pod  2661 . Instead, each of the messages may be directed to an available pod  2661  of a particular type in which an available instance of a type of routine is being executed within a container  2565  therein that could become involved in the performance of a job flow, or may be directed to whichever one of a type of pod  2661  is the one of that type of pod  2661  that contains an instance of a type of routine that is already involved in the performance of a job flow. Thus, and more specifically, the request message  2434   pj  that relays the request to perform the job flow may be meant to be received by whichever one of the performance pods  2661   e  happens to contain an instance of the performance component  2544  that is available to take on the controlling of the executions of individual task routines  2440  to thereby control the performances of the individual tasks of the job flow as part of actually effectuating the performance of the job flow. 
     As depicted, it may be that one of the performance pods  2661   e  does contain an instance of the performance component  2544  that is being executed within its performance container  2565   e , and that is available to provide such control over such executions of task routines  2440 . As further depicted, in some embodiments, the available instance of the performance component  2544  may cooperate with the instance of the messaging routine  2414  within the corresponding messaging container  2565   m  to output a job in-progress message  2434   jip  onto the job queue  2669   j  that provides an indication that such per-task actions to effectuate the performance of the job flow are in progress, such that the “running” status indicated in the request data  2535  for this instance of performing the job flow is now correct. 
     Again, it may be that the job in-progress message  2434   j ip is also not directed to any particular one of the portal pods  2661   p , but instead, is directed to whichever one of the portal pods  2661   p  is the one that contains the instance of the portal component  2549  that is currently involved in the performance of the job flow. To do this, the in-progress message  2434   j ip may include the job flow instance identifier  2701  and/or other identifier(s) to identify the job flow and/or the instance of its performance that is the subject of this message. Such an indirect approach to directing the in-progress message  2434   j ip to a destination among the multiple portal pods  2661   p  may be in recognition of the possibility that, following the output of the request message  2434   pj  (to which the output of the job in-progress message  2434   j ip is a response), the portal pod  2661   p  from which the request message  2434   pj  was output may have been uninstantiated, and another instance of the portal component  2549  within another one of the portal pods  2661   p  may have taken over in becoming involved in this instance of performing the job flow. 
     In embodiments in which the job in-progress message  2434   j ip is output onto the job queue  2669   j  as part of an instance of the performance component  2544  becoming involved in the performance of the job flow, the job in-progress message  2434   j ip may serve the additional function of providing an indication that is able to be monitored by the other instances of the performance component  2544  that there is an instance of the performance component  2544  that has already become involved in the performance of the job flow, such that no other instance of the performance component  2544  needs to do so. Stated differently, the output of the job in-progress message  2434   j ip may serve as a mechanism by which one of the instances of the performance component  2544  effectively “claims” the job flow that is requested to be performed in the request message  2434   pj . Thus, in this way, a single instance of multiple instances of the performance component  2544  accedes to becoming the instance that effectuates the performance of the job flow to occur by becoming the instance that controls that performance. 
     In some of such embodiments, it may be that the job in-progress message  2434   j ip by which the job flow is claimed includes an identifier of the instance of the performance component  2544  that made this claim. If that particular instance of the performance component  2544  is subsequently uninstantiated (as depicted with a dashed “X”), then another instance of the performance component  2544  that is available to take over the performance of the job flow may be triggered to do so by the presence of the in-progress message  2434   j ip on the job queue  2669   j  that refers to the performance of the job flow as being in progress (as reflected with the “running” status indication discussed earlier as being stored in the request data  2535 ), and which was under the control of an instance of the performance component  2544  that is no longer instantiated. 
     In some embodiments, it may be that the “claiming” of the performance of the job flow that has been requested may be carried out with more than one action involving the job queue  2669   j . First, the instance of the messaging routine  2414  of the performance pod  2661   e  that becomes involved in performing the requested job flow may de-queue the job flow performance request message  2434   pj  from the job queue  2669   j  to prevent the instance of messaging routine  2414  within another performance pod  2661   e  from taking action to “claim” the same job flow. Then, as the second step, the instance of the messaging routine  2414  of the performance pod  2661   e  that becomes involved in performing the requested job flow may output the job in-progress message  2434   j ip onto the job queue  2669   j.    
     In such embodiments, if the performance pod  2661   e  that becomes so involved is uninstantiated after de-queuing the job flow performance request message  2434   pj  from the job queue  2669   j , but before the job in-progress message  2434   j ip is able to be output onto the job queue  2669   j , then all indications that the performance of the job flow was ever requested may cease to be present on the job queue  2669   j . To address this situation in such embodiments, it may be that the ongoing presence of an indication of “running” status of the performance of the job flow within the request data  2535  may trigger the portal component  2549  that is currently involved in the requested performance of the job flow to output a new job flow performance request message  2434   pj  onto the job queue  2669   j  after the elapsing of a predetermined period of time after the original request message  2434   pj  was de-queued without being followed by the output of a job in-progress message  2434   j ip onto the job queue  2669   j.    
     It should again be noted that, in some embodiments, the job queue  2669   j  may be implemented as a pair of side-by-side sub-queues, where one sub-queue conveys messages (e.g., the depicted request message  2434   pj ) from the portal pods  2661   p  to the performance pods  2661   e , and the other sub-queue conveys messages (e.g., the depicted job in-progress message  2434   j ip) from the performance pods  2661   e  to the portal pods  2661   p.    
     Turning to  FIG.  23 E , regardless of the exact manner in which an instance of the performance component  2544  “claims” the job flow so as to acceded to becoming the instance that is involved in effectuating its performance, further execution of the instance of the performance component  2544  may cause core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  to analyze the job flow definition  2220  of the job flow to derive an order of execution of task routines  2440  to perform the various tasks of the job flow in a manner that takes advantage of opportunities to cause various subsets of the tasks to be performed at least partially in parallel. Upon deriving such an order of execution of task routines  2440 , that instance of the performance component  2544  may then cooperate with the instance of the messaging routine  2414  being executed within the corresponding messaging container  2565   m  to output, onto the task queue  2669   t  (i.e., store within the task queue  2669   t ), a set of task routine execution request messages  2434   et  that make requests for the execution of various task routines  2440  within available ones of the task pods  2661   t.    
     As depicted, each such task routine execution request message  2434   et  may include an indication that the execution of a task routine  2440  is being requested, along with information needed to identify the task routine  2440  that is to be executed. If the originally received request for a performance of the job flow did not specify that the performance is to be a repeat of a previous performance using specific versions of task routines  2440 , then the default of using the most recent version of each task routine  2440  may apply such that the task routine execution request message  2434   et  may include the flow task identifier  2241  of the task that is to be performed through the execution of the most recent version of an appropriate task routine  2440 . In some embodiments, the flow task identifier  2241  may be conveyed within the message by including a portion of the job flow definition  2220  (e.g., the flow definition  2225 ) for the job flow that includes just the flow task identifier  2241  of the task that is to be performed in response to the message. In such embodiments, it may be that the inclusion of a portion of the job flow definition  2220  within each task routine execution request message  2434   et  is meant to cause each task routine execution request message  2434   et  to essentially resemble a “slimmed down” version of the associated job performance request message  2434   pj . As previously discussed, in embodiments in which there may be multiple task types, the flow task identifier  2241  of the task that is to be performed may incorporate (or be otherwise accompanied by) a task type identifier  2242  that specifies the task type for that task. 
     However, if the originally received request for a performance of the job flow does specify that the requested performance is to be a repeat of a previous instance of a performance using specific versions of task routines  2440 , then the task routine execution request message  2434   et  may include the task routine identifier  2441  of the specific version of the task routine  2440  that is to be executed. In embodiments in which there may be multiple task types, it may be that the task routine identifier  2441  of the specific task routine  2440  is accompanied by the task type identifier  2242  indicating the task type of that specific task routine  2440 . 
     Additionally, and regardless of the exact manner in which the task routine  2440  to be executed is identified, the task routine execution request message  2434   et  may further include data object identifier(s)  2331  of any data objects that may be used as input, the job flow instance identifier  2701 , and/or the task instance identifier  2704  that uniquely identifies the instance of performance of the task that is being requested. Also, the task routine execution request message  2434   et  may additionally include the federated area identifier(s)  2569  of each of the federated areas  2566  to which access is authorized, thereby specifying which federated area(s)  2566  from which objects may be retrieved for the requested performance of the task. 
     Such task routine execution request messages  2434   et  may be stored within the task queue  2669   t  in an order and with timings that follow the derived order of execution so as to account for the dependencies among the tasks of the job flow. Stated differently, where opportunities exist to cause the execution of multiple task routines  2440  to occur at least partially in parallel, then the task routine execution request messages  2434   et  to cause such executions to occur may be stored on the task queue  2669   t  with little regard for when each is so stored within the task queue  2669   t  relative to the other(s). However, where the execution of an earlier task routine  2440  generates data that is needed as an input to the execution of a later task routine  2440 , then the output of the task routine execution request message  2434   et  to cause the execution of the later task routine  2440  may be delayed until another message  2434  indicating the completion of the execution of the earlier task routine  2440  (e.g., a completion message  2434   tc , shortly to be discussed) has been detected as having been output onto (i.e., stored within) the task queue  2669   t . Thus, in coordinating the executions of multiple task routines  2440  to follow the derived order of execution, core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  may be caused by execution of the instance of the performance component  2544  to monitor the task queue  2669   t  for completion messages  2434   tc , and may condition the output of a subset of task routine execution request message(s)  2434   et  on a subset of completion messages  2434   tc  being so stored within the task queue  2669   t.    
     As previously discussed, the conditioning of the transmission of a task routine execution request message  2434   et  for the performance of a next task on the completion of performance of a preceding task that provides a data object needed as input to the next task may be one of the measures taken to effectuate a form of coherency of storage of data objects within federated areas. Alternatively or additionally, implementing a requirement that a task completion message cannot be sent from a task pod  2661   t  unless and until all data objects generated during the execution of a task routine  2440  therein have been confirmed to have been stored in federated area(s)  2566  may be another measure taken to effectuate such coherency. Also alternatively or additionally, delaying the commencement of execution of a task routine  2440  within a task pod  2661   t  until all data objects required as inputs thereto have been received at that task pod  2661   t  may be another measure taken to effectuate such coherency. 
     For sake of ease of understanding,  FIG.  23 E , and subsequent figures, depict the output of and responses to just a single one of such task routine execution request messages  2434   et  onto the task queue  2669   t . It should be noted that such a depiction of only a single one of the task routine execution request messages  2434   et  conveying a request for the execution of just a single task routine  2440  is meant to provide a deliberately highly simplified example so as to avoid unnecessary visual clutter as an aid to ease of understanding of what is depicted, discussed and claimed herein, and should not be taken as limiting what is described and claimed herein as being applicable only to such simplistic circumstances. Indeed, it is envisioned that what is depicted, discussed and claimed herein is to be used with job flows that include numerous tasks to be performed, thereby causing the execution of numerous corresponding task routines  2440 , and perhaps numerous instances of numerous task routines  2440  in the case in which one or more data objects may be distributed across multiple devices - - - and not just a single task causing the execution of a single instance of a single task routine  2440 . 
     In a manner somewhat like the earlier described output of the request message  2434   pj  onto the job queue  2669   j , the output of the task routine execution request message  2434   et  onto the task queue  2669   t  may serve to ensure that the corresponding task routine  2440  will be executed as requested, even if the instance of the performance component  2544  that “claimed” control the job flow (e.g., by outputting the job in-progress message  2434   j ip), and that output the task routine execution request message  2434   et , is uninstantiated as a result of its performance pod  2661   e  being uninstantiated by the resource allocation routine  2411 . More specifically, if the instance of the performance component  2544  that claimed control over the job flow is uninstantiated (as depicted with a dashed “X”) after outputting the task routine execution request message  2434   et  onto the task queue  2669   t , then another instance of the performance component  2544  would be able to rely on the task routine execution request message  2434   et  being present on the task queue  2669   j  as serving as an indication that there is still a task routine  2440  to be executed, and that the request message needed to trigger the execution thereof has already been generated and output onto the task queue  2669   t . Thus, in this way, some amount of information concerning the state of the now uninstantiated instance of the performance component  2544  is preserved to be relayed to a new instance of the performance component  2544  that takes over for the now uninstantiated instance. 
     Turning to  FIG.  23 F , in addition to transmitting the job in-progress message  2434   j ip on the job queue  2669   j , and in addition to transmitting the task routine execution request message  2434   et  on the task queue  2669   t , the same available instance of the performance component  2544  may also transmit a scale-up message  2434   xu  on the scaling queue  2669   x  for receipt at the single scaling pod  2661   x . The scale-up message  2434   xu  may provide an indication of a need to increase the allocation of (or to at least forestall decreasing the allocation of) one or more type(s) of task pod  2661   t  that will be needed to execute the task routine(s)  2440  as a result of the performance of the job flow that the instance of the performance component  2544  is now involved in controlling. 
     In embodiments in which there is just a single type of task, the scale-up message  2434   xu  may simply indicate a need to increase the quantity of task pods  2661   t . However, in embodiments in which there two or more different task types, and/or where the job flow being performed includes tasks of more than one type, it may be that one or more messages  2434  may be sent to the scaling pod  2661   x  that indicates a need to increase the quantity of one or more types of task pod  2661   t  and/or a need to decrease the quantity of one or more types of task pod  2661   t.    
     As previously discussed, a scaling routine  2412  executed within a scaling container  2565   x  within the scaling pod  2661   x  may combine such messages from each of the instances of the performance component  2544  that are currently instantiated to generate a combined indication to the resource allocation routine  2411 . Such a combined indication may be of a need to increase or decrease a single type of task pod  2661   t , or of a need to increase or decrease quantities of each type of multiple types of task pod  2661   t . Again, this is meant to provide the resource allocation routine  2411  with a preemptive indication of the quantities of various types of pods  2661  that are needed, rather than allowing the resource allocation routine  2411  to remain dependent on taking action to allocate types of pods  2661  as a reaction to observations of degree of use of the different types of pods  2661 . 
     By way of example, and as also previously discussed, the scaling routine  2412  may be provided with an indication that a reduced quantity of a particular type of task pod  2661   t  supporting a secondary language is needed as a mechanism to cause two sequentially executed task routines  2440  written in the secondary programming language to be executed within the same task pod  2661   t  so that a shared memory space  2665  may be used to exchange data object(s) therebetween. Thus, a “scale-down” message  2343   xd  (not shown) may be output onto the scaling queue  2669   x , in addition to or in lieu of the depicted “scale-up” message  2434   xu , at least initially, to reduce the quantity of task pods  2661   t  of that particular type to increase the likelihood that the two sequentially executed task routines  2440  are executed within the very same task pod  2661   t , thereby increasing the likelihood of such use of such a shared memory space  2665 . After the sequential executions of such a pair of tasks has been performed a “scale-up” message  2434   xu  may be output onto the scaling queue  2669   x  to cause a return of the quantity of the particular type of task pod  2661   t  back to its earlier higher level. 
     Again, as previously discussed, a data object output by a task routine  2440  written in a secondary programming language that is not normally used (or is not normally expected to be used) may have various formatting and/or organizational features that differ from an equivalent data object output by a task routine  2440  written in a primary programming language that is normally used. As also previously discussed, where it is deemed desirable to store such a data object in a federated area  2566 , it may be that data objects that are so stored may be expected to have formatting and/or other organizational features conforming to those of data objects output by task routines  2440  written in the primary programming language. As a result, a data object output by a task routine  2440  written in a secondary programming language may be required to be subjected to one or more types of conversion before it can be stored in a federated area  2566 , and unfortunately, would have to be subjected to a reversal of such type(s) of conversion upon being retrieved therefrom for use as an input to another task routine that is also written in the secondary programming language, thereby incurring an excessive use of resources and time that may be avoided through the use of such a shared memory space  2665 . Being able to exchange such a data object between two of such task routines  2440  written in a secondary programming language through a shared memory space  2665  within a single task pod  2661   t  may enable both of such conversions to be avoided. 
     Turning to  FIG.  23 G , as previously discussed, the task routine execution request message  2434   et  that relays the request to execute a task routine  2440  as part of performing the job flow may be meant to be received by whichever one of the task pods  2661   t  happens to be available for use in so executing the task routine  2440 . As depicted, it may be that one of the task pods  2661   t  is so available, and may “claim” the task routine execution that is requested by outputting a task in progress message  2434   t ip onto the task queue  2669   t . In this way, that available one of the task pods  2661   t  accedes to becoming the task pod  2661   t  with the task container  2565   t  in which the requested task routine execution takes place. Again, it should be noted that in embodiments in which there are multiple federated devices  2500  and/or multiple storage devices  2600  that are configured to provide processing resources, it may be that there are task pods  2661   t  instantiated by the resource allocation routine  2411  across multiple devices  2500  and/or  2600  interconnected by a network. Thus, the depicted one of the task pods  2661   t  that happens to be available for use in executing the task routine  2440  may be instantiated on any one device  2500  or  2600  of multiple devices  2500  and/or  2600 . 
     As also depicted, in some embodiments, it may be the instance of the messaging routine  2414  within the messaging container  2565   m  of the available task pod  2661   t  that outputs the task in-progress message  2434   t ip onto the task queue  2669   t  that confirms that the execution of the task routine is in progress, such that the status of the performance of the corresponding task of the job flow is a “running” status. Again, it may be that the task in-progress message  2434   t ip is also not directed to any particular one of the performance pods  2661   e , but instead, is directed to whichever one of the performance pods  2661   e  is the one that contains the instance of the performance component  2544  that is currently involved in the performance of the job flow. To do this, the task in-progress message  2434   t ip may include the job flow instance identifier  2701 , the task instance identifier  2704  for the task, and/or other identifier(s). Again, such an indirect approach to directing the task in-progress message  2434   t ip to a destination among the multiple performance pods  2661   e  may be in recognition of the possibility that, following the output of the task routine execution request message  2434   et  (to which the output of the task in-progress message  2434   t ip is a response), the performance pod  2661   e  from which the task routine execution request message  2434   et  was output may have been uninstantiated, and another instance of the performance component  2544  within another one of the performance pods  2661   e  may have taken over in becoming involved in controlling the performance of the job flow. 
     In embodiments in which the task in-progress message  2434   t ip is output onto the task queue  2669   t  as part of a task pod  2661   t  becoming involved in the execution of task routine  2440  to perform a task of the job flow, the task in-progress message  2434   t ip may serve the additional function of providing an indication that is able to be monitored from the other task pods  2661   t  that there is a task pod  2661   t  that is already in use to execute the task routine  2440 , such that no other task pod  2661   t  is needed to do so. Again, the output of the task in-progress message  2434   t ip may serve as a mechanism by which one of the task pods  2661   t  effectively “claims” the execution of a task routine  2440  that is requested to be executed in the task routine execution request message  2434   et , thereby, again, acceding to becoming the one of the task pods  2661   t  that has the task container  2565   t  in which the requested task routine execution takes place. 
     In some of such embodiments, it may be that the task in-progress message  2434   t ip that claims the task routine execution additionally includes an identifier of the task pod  2661   t  that made this claim. If that particular task pod  2661   t  is subsequently uninstantiated (as depicted with a dashed “X”), then another task pod  2661   t  that is available for use executing the task routine  2440  may be triggered to do so by the presence of the task in-progress message  2434   t ip on the task queue  2669   t  that refers to the execution of the task routine  2440  associated with the job flow as being in progress within the task container  2565   t  of a task pod  2661   t  that is no longer instantiated. 
     In some embodiments, it may be that the “claiming” of the requested execution of a task routine  2440  may be carried out with more than one action involving the task queue  2669   t . First, the instance of the messaging routine  2414  of the task pod  2661   t  that becomes involved in executing the task routine  2440  may de-queue the task execution request message  2434   et  from the task queue  2669   t  to prevent the instance of messaging routine  2414  within another task pod  2661   t  from taking action to “claim” the same requested task routine execution. Then, as the second step, the instance of the messaging routine  2414  of the task pod  2661   t  that becomes involved in the requested execution of the task routine  2440  may output the task in-progress message  2434   t ip onto the task queue  2669   t.    
     In such embodiments, if the task pod  2661   t  that becomes so involved is uninstantiated after de-queuing the task routine execution request message  2434   et  from the task queue  2669   t , but before the task in-progress message  2434   t ip is able to be output onto the task queue  2669   t , then all indications that the execution of the task routine  2440  was ever requested may cease to be present on the task queue  2669   t . To address this situation in such embodiments, it may be that the instance of the performance component  2544  tracks the amount of time that elapses from when the task routine execution message  2434   et  was output onto the task queue  2669   t  and/or from when the task routine execution message  2434   et  was de-queued from the task queue  2669   t . Where the amount of time that elapses from either event exceeds a predetermined threshold amount of time, then that instance of the performance component  2544  may be triggered to output a new task routine execution request message  2434   et  onto the task queue  2669   t.    
     Regardless of the exact manner in which a task pod  2661   t  claims the requested task routine execution as one that it will be involved in effecting, the instance of the resolver routine  2413  being executed within the resolver container  2565   r  therein may use the information provided in the task routine execution request message  2434   et  concerning the task routine  2440  to be executed, along with any information concerning data objects to be used as inputs, to obtain the task routine  2440  and/or other objects needed to effectuate the execution thereof from one or more federated areas  2566 . In so doing, the resolver routine  2413  may use information provided in the task routine execution request message  2434   et  concerning what federated area(s)  2566  are authorized to be accessed to limit searches for each of these objects to those particular federated area(s)  2566 . In some embodiments, the resolver routine  2413  may cooperate with the admission component  2542 , the selection component  2543  and/or the database component  2545  to retrieve each needed object in a manner similar to the cooperation between the portal component  2549  and these same components  2542 ,  2543  and  2545  that was previously described for retrieving object(s) to be provided to another device as part of an exchange of objects. However, other embodiments are possible in which the resolver routine  2413  may perform such retrievals of objects more autonomously. Regardless of the manner in which the task routine  2440  that is to be executed, along with other needed objects, are retrieved from federated area(s)  2566 , upon being so retrieved, the task routine  2440  may then be executed within the task container  2565   t.    
     It should again be noted that, in some embodiments, the task queue  2669   t  may be implemented as a set of side-by-side queues, where one queue conveys messages (e.g., the depicted task routine execution request message  2434   et ) from the one or more performance pods  2661   e  to the multiple task pods  2661   t , and multiple others that each convey messages (e.g., the depicted task in-progress message  2434   t ip) from a separate one of the multiple task pods  2661   t  to the one or more performance pods  2661   e . Further, while the one queue that conveys messages from the one or more performance pods  2661   e  to the multiple task pods  2661   t  may be continuously maintained, as will shortly be explained in greater detail, it may be that each one of the multiple other queues conveying messages back to the one or more performance pods  2661   e  is maintained temporarily for while each corresponding one of the task pods  2661   t  is engaged in the execution of a task routine  2440 . Stated differently, each of the multiple other queues may be instantiated to exist for just the duration of execution of a task routine  2440  within the corresponding task pod  2661   t , and may then be uninstantiated when such execution ends. 
     Turning to  FIG.  23 H , as previously discussed, in embodiments in which there are multiple task types there may be multiple separate task queue  2669   t  that are each devoted to tasks and task pods  2661   t  of a single particular type, such as the depicted task queues  2669   t   1  and  2669   t   2  that convey messages between the depicted task pods  2661   t   1  and  2661   t   2 , respectively, and the one or more performance pods  2661   e . As also depicted, the instance of the performance pod  2661   e  that is involved in controlling the performance of a job flow determines which task queue  2669   t   1  or  2669   t   2  to use in exchanging messages concerning the execution of a task routine  2440  based on whether the corresponding task is of type 1 or 2. Thus, where a task routine  2440  for a task of type 1 is to be executed, a task routine execution request message  2434   et   1  may be output onto the task queue  2669   t   1 , and may be responded by one of the depicted task pods  2661   t   1  with a task in progress message  2434   tip   1 . Alternatively, where a task routine  2440  for a task of type 2 is to be executed, a task routine execution request message  2434   et   2  may be output onto the task queue  2669   t   2 , and may be responded by one of the depicted task pods  2661   t   2  with a task in progress message  2434   tip   2 . 
     The instantiation and maintenance of such multiple task queues  2669   t  to separately support different task types may be deemed to be more desirable than instantiating and maintaining just a single task queue  2669   t  for multiple task types. Were there just such a single task queue  2669   t , messages associated with different task types may need to include task type identifiers  2242  to provide a mechanism by which the messaging routines  2414  within the differing types of task pods  2661   t  could distinguish between messages associated with tasks of the right task type from messages associated with the wrong task type. Unfortunately, and as will be familiar to those skilled in the art, accessing messages to check the task type identifiers  2242  therein may consume an undesirable amount of time, as doing so may entail the further consumption of time and/or other resources to have the messaging routine  2414  within each task pod de-queue messages from the such a single task queue, check their task type, and then re-queue the ones of those messages that are of the wrong task type back onto such a single task queue  2669   t.    
     Turning to  FIG.  23 I , upon completion of the execution of the task routine  2440 , from the task pod  2661   t , a task routine execution completion message  2434   tc  indicating the completion of execution of the task routine  2440  may be output onto the task queue  2669   t . Such a completion message  2434   tc  may be directed at whichever one of the instances of the performance component  2544  within one of the performance pods  2661   e  is the instance that is currently controlling the execution of task routines  2440  as part of effectuating the performance of the job flow. To enable this, the completion message  2434   tc  may include the job flow instance identifier  2701  and/or the task instance identifier  2704  for the task. 
     In embodiments in which the task routine execution request message  2434   et  was not already de-queued from the task queue  2669   t  by the task pod  2661   t , that task routine execution request message  2434   et  may now be so de-queued by the task pod  2661   t  as part of providing the indication of completion. Alternatively, it may be the instance of the performance component  2544  that is currently controlling the execution of task routines  2440  for the job flow that de-queues the task routine execution request message  2434   et  in response to the output of the completion message  2434   tc . The de-queuing of the task routine execution request message  2434   et  from the task queue  2669   t  and/or the output of the completion message  2434   tc  onto the task queue  2669   t , may serve as another mechanism to again preserve an indication of the current state of the performance of the job flow, if the instance of the performance component  2544  that currently controls the execution of task routines  2440  for the job flow is uninstantiated. 
     However, in other embodiments in which the task routine execution request message  2434   et  had already been de-queued from the task queue  2669   t  as part of the task pod  2661   t  claiming the requested execution of the task routine  2440  (e.g., as part of the earlier described multiple step approach to making the claim), it may be the output of the task routine execution completion message  2434   tc  onto the task queue  2669   t  that serves as the mechanism to preserve an indication of the current state of performance of the job flow. More precisely, it may be just the output of the task routine completion message  2434   tc  onto the task queue  2669   t  that is relied upon to provide the indication that the corresponding task was performed, if the instance of the performance component  2544  that currently controls the execution of task routines  2440  for the job flow is uninstantiated, and another instance of the performance component  2544  within another performance pod  2661   e  takes over the control of execution of task routines  2440  for the job flow. 
     Regardless of the exact manner in which the fact of completion of the performance of the task is indicated on the task queue  2669   t , and presuming there are no other task routines  2440  that need to be executed as part of performing the job flow, then upon receipt of the completion message  2434   tc , the instance of the performance component  2544  that is currently controlling the execution of task routines  2440  for the job flow may be caused (in cooperation with its corresponding instance of the messaging routine  2414 ) to output a job flow performance completion message  2434   jc  indicating completion of the performance of the job flow onto the job queue  2669   j . Such a completion message  2434   jc  may be directed at whichever one of the instances of the portal component  2549  within one of the portal pods  2661   p  is the instance that is currently involved in the performance of the job flow. To enable this, the job flow performance completion message  2434   jc  may include the job flow instance identifier  2701 . 
     In some embodiments, the same instance of the performance component  2544  from which the job flow performance completion message  2434   jc  message may have been output, may also act to “accept” the job flow performance request message  2434   pj , thereby removing it from the job queue  2669   j . Alternatively, it may be the instance of the portal component  2549  that is currently involved in the performance of the job flow that so “accepts” the job flow performance request message  2434   pj , thereby removing it from the job queue  2669   j , and may do so in response to the output of the job flow performance completion message  2434   jc . In various embodiments, the accepting of the request message  2434   pj  to remove it from the job queue  2669   j  and/or the output of the completion message  2434   jc  onto the job queue  2669   j  may serve as another mechanism to again preserve an indication of the current state of the performance of the job flow, including the fact of completion of the job flow, if the instance of the portal component  2549  that is currently involved in the performance of the job flow is uninstantiated. 
     Turning to  FIG.  23 J , as previously discussed, it may be that the task queue  2669   t  is made up of a combination of a single group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  and multiple individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind . Again, in such embodiments, it may be that all task pods  2661   t  (or at least, all task pods of the same type) share access to the single group sub-queue  2669   t - grp , while each one of those task pods  2661   t  is also provided with access to its own individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind . In this way, exchanges of messages between the one or more performance pods  2661   e  and those task pods  2661   t  may be performed either in a manner that is accessible to all of those task pods  2661   t  via the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp , or in a manner that is accessible to just one of those task pods  2661   t.    
     In such embodiments, the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  may be employed by the instance of the performance component  2544  that currently controls the execution of task routines  2440  for the job flow to convey the task routine execution request message  2434   et  to all of the task pods  2661   t  that share access to the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp . In this way, any of the task pods  2661   t  that shares access to the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  is informed of the request, and among those task pods  2661   t , any that are available may respond by “claiming” the requested task routine execution (thereby becoming the one of those available task pods  2661   t  that has the task container  2565   t  in which the requested task routine execution will occur). 
     In some of such embodiments, the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  may also be employed by one of those task pods  2661   t  to convey the task in-progress message  2434   t ip back to that instance of the performance component  2544 . By using the group sub queue  2669   t - grp  to do so, that one of the task pods  2661   t  may “claim” the requested execution of the task routine  2440  in a manner that serves to simultaneously inform all of the other task pods  2661   t  that share access to group sub-queue  2669   t - grp . As has also been discussed, the task in-progress message  2434   tip  may include an identifier of that task pod  2661   t.    
     However, in others of such embodiments, the act of “claiming” the requested task routine execution may be effected in multiple steps. First, in response to the output of the task routine execution request message  2434   et  onto the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp , a task pod  2661   t  may de-queue the task routine execution request message  2434   et  from the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  to prevent another task pod  2661   t  from doing so, thereby preventing a competing “claim” by another task pod  2661   t . Second, the task pod  2661   t  may output the task in-progress message  2434   tip  onto its corresponding one of the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind , thereby providing an indication to the instance of the performance component  2544  that currently controls the execution of task routines  2440  for the job flow, thereby identifying itself as the task pod  2661   t  that has claimed the requested task routine execution. 
     Regardless of the exact manner in which such “claiming” is effected, the task pod  2661   t  that has made this claim may then employ its corresponding individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind  to exchange status and/or other information concerning the requested task routine execution with the instance of the performance component  2544  that currently controls the execution of task routines  2440  for the job flow. Thus, upon completing the requested task routine execution, the task pod  2661   t  may output the task routine execution completion message  2434   tc  onto its corresponding individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind , instead of onto the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp.    
     As also previously discussed, and regardless of the exact manner in which each of the individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind  are used, it may be that each of the individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind  are instantiated and maintained for just long enough to enable the exchange of messages concerning the execution of a task routine  2440  by its corresponding task pod  2661   t . In contrast, the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  may be instantiated and maintained throughout the time during which the distributed processing system  2000  is used to perform job flows. In various embodiments, for each individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind , these instantiations and uninstantiations may be effected by the messaging routine  2414  within its corresponding task pod  2661   t.    
     Turning to  FIG.  23 K , upon receipt of the job flow performance completion message  2434   jc , the instance of the portal component  2549  that is currently involved in the performance of the job flow may be caused to update the indication of the status of the job flow performance stored within the entry within the request data  2535  from an indication of “running” to an indication of being “completed” (or, may simply remove the entry for the job flow, altogether). The same instance of the portal component  2549  may also transmit an indication of completion of this instance of performing the job flow via the network  2999  to the requesting device  2100  or  2800 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  23 L , in addition to transmitting the completion message  2434   jc  on the job queue  2669   j , that same controlling instance of the performance component  2544  may also transmit a scale-down message  2434   xd  on the scaling queue  2669   x  for receipt at the single scaling pod  2661   x . The scale-down message  2434   xd  may provide an indication of a reduced need for the allocation of the type(s) of task pod  2661   t  that were needed to execute the task routine(s)  2440  of the now completed job flow. In this way, an indication is provided to the scaling routine  2412  that more task pods  2661   t  of various and/or other type(s) may now be allocated to enable the execution of other task routine(s) of other job flow(s), and/or that more pods  2661  of still other types may now be allocated to enable the execution of still other types of executable routine. 
       FIGS.  24 A,  24 B,  24 C and  24 D  illustrate aspects of differing approaches to causing two tasks routines  2440  that exchange one or more data objects to be executed sequentially within the same task pod  2661   t . In some of such embodiments, a distinct shared memory space  2665  may be instantiated within such a task pod  2661   t  by which such an exchanged data object may be temporarily stored as part of effecting the exchange.  FIGS.  24 A and  24 B  each depict an approach to effecting such sequential executions of such tasks using such a shared memory space  2665 . However, in others of such embodiments, the use of disk storage buffering associated with the storage and retrieval of objects to and from federated areas  2566  may be relied upon to aid in effecting such an exchange of such a data object.  FIGS.  24 C and  24 D  each depict an approach to effecting such sequential executions of such tasks using buffering. 
     Turning to  FIG.  24 A , as previously discussed, in some embodiments, there may be multiple types of task pods  2661   t  where each type may support the execution of task routines  2440  written in a different programming language. More specifically, and as depicted, there may be task pods  2661   t  configured to support the execution of task routines  2440  written in a primary programming language (designated as task pods  2661   pt ) and task pods  2661   t  configured to support the execution of task routines  2440  written in a secondary programming language (designated as task pods  2661   st ). As also depicted, and as previously discussed, such different types of task pods  2661   t  may also exchange messages with the one or more performance pods  2661   e  through corresponding different task queues  2669   t , such as the depicted task queue  2669   st  for the task pods  2661   st , and the depicted task queue  2669   pt  for the task pods  2661   pt . As also previously discussed, in some embodiments, messages may be sent to the scaling pod  2661   x  to manipulate the quantity of at least a particular type of task pod  2661   t  to reduce the quantity thereof as a mechanism to at least increase the likelihood that two sequentially executed task routines  2440  will be executed within the same task pod  2661   t  to thereby enable a data object to be more directly exchanged therebetween through a shared memory space  2665 . 
     More specifically, and by way of example, the depicted instance of the performance component  2544 , in cooperation with its corresponding instance of the messaging routine  2414 , may first transmit a scale down message  2434   sxd  to the scaling pod  2661   x  via the scaling queue  2669   x  in which an indication may be provided that a lesser quantity is needed of task pods  2661   st  that support the execution of task routines  2440  written in the secondary programming language. The scaling pod  2661   x  may relay an indication of such a reduced need for the task pods  2661   st  to the resource allocation routine  2411  to trigger the uninstantiation of one or more of the task pods  2661   st  to reduce the available quantity thereof. Second, the depicted instance of the performance component  2544  may transmit a task routine execution request message  2434   et  on the task queue  2669   st  to cause execution of the task routine  2440   s   1  within one of the now reduced quantity of task pods  2661   st . Within the task routine execution request message  2434   et  may be an indication that the mid-flow data object  2370   s  that is to be generated as a result is to be stored within a shared memory space  2665 , and is to be maintained therein after execution of the task routine  2440   s   1  has been completed so as to be available for use as an input by another task routine  2440  executed therein. 
     Third, such a task pod  2661   st  may, in response to the task routine execution request message  2434   et , transmit a task in progress message  2434   t ip message back to the performance pod  2661   e  via the task queue  2669   st  to claim the execution of the task routine  2440   s   1  in the manner described above. Also, in response to the indication that the mid-flow data set  2370   s  is to be stored within a shared memory space  2665 , the depicted shared memory space  2665  may be instantiated and made accessible from within the task container  2565   t . The instance of the resolver routine  2413  may use identifying information provided in the task routine execution message  2434   et  to retrieve at least the task routine  2440   s   1  from a federated area  2566  for execution. Fourth, following execution of the task routine  2440   s   1  and the resulting generation and storage of the mid-flow data set  2370   s  within the shared memory space  2665 , a task completed message  2434   tc  may be transmitted back to the performance pod  2661   e  via the task queue  2669   st.    
     Fifth, in response to the completion of execution of the task routine  2440   s   1 , the depicted instance of the performance component  2544  may transmit another task routine execution request message  2434   et  on the task queue  2669   st  to cause execution of the task routine  2440   s   2 . With the quantity of task pods  2661   st  having been reduced, it may be that execution of the task routine  2440   s   2  is claimed by the same task pod  2661   st  in which the task routine  2440   s   1  was executed. Within this next task routine execution request message  2434   et  may be an indication that the mid-flow data object  2370   s  is to be accessed within a shared memory space  2665  if the task routine  2440   s   2  is successfully caused to be executed within that same task pod  2661   st.    
     Sixth, and presuming that the same task pod  2661   st  does become the one in which the task routine  2440   s   2  will be executed, that next task routine execution request message  2434   et  may be responded to with another task in-progress message  2434   t ip message to claim the execution of the task routine  2440   s   2  that has been requested. The instance of the resolver routine  2413  may use identifying information provided in the next task routine execution message  2434   et  to retrieve at least the task routine  2440   s   2  from a federated area  2566  for execution. Also, in response to the indication that the mid-flow data set  2370   s  is to be retrieved from the shared memory space  2665 , the task routine  2440   s   2  may be caused to so retrieve the mid-flow data object  2370   s  from the shared memory space  2665 . Seventh, following execution of the task routine  2440   s   2  another task completed message  2434   tc  may be transmitted back to the performance pod  2661   e  via the task queue  2669   st.    
     Eighth, in response to the completion of execution of the task routine  2440   s   2 , the depicted instance of the performance component  2544  may transmit a scale up message  2434   sxu  to the scaling pod  2661   x  to cause the quantity of task pods  2661   st  that are capable of executing task routines  2440  written in the secondary language to be returned to its original level. 
     Turning to  FIG.  24 B , like what was just discussed in reference to  FIG.  24 A , the two tasks that are requested to be performed sequentially within the same task pod  2661   t  may both have been written in a secondary programming language. However, unlike what was just discussed in reference to  FIG.  24 A , it may be that a separate type of task pod  2661   t  is not required to support the use of the secondary programming language, and the depicted task pod  2661   t  is able to support both of the primary and secondary programming languages. Also unlike what was just discussed in reference to  FIG.  24 A , it may be that a task routine execution request message  2434   et  is the first message to be exchanged, and there may be no messages sent to a scaling pod  2661   x  to manipulate the quantity of one or more types of pod  2661 . 
     As was previously discussed, in some embodiments, the task routine execution request messages  2434   et  may be similar in their syntax to the job performance request messages  2434   pj  such that the task routine execution request messages  2434   et  may effectively contain a portion of a job flow definition  2220 . However, the portion of job flow definition  2220  included in the task execution request messages  2434   et  may be of a form that has been reduced in content to specify just the single task that is being requested to be performed through the requested execution of a task routine  2440 . 
     In some of such embodiments, the sequential execution of the task routines  2440   s   1  and  2440   s   2  within the same task pod  2661   t  may be caused to occur by generating the depicted task routine execution request message  2434   et , to include such a reduced form of job flow definition  2220  that explicitly specifies both of the two tasks that are to be sequentially performed through sequential performances of the task routines  2440   s   1  and  2440   s   2  within the same task pod  2661   t . Alternatively, the reduced form of job flow definition  2220  therein may specify the first task as being an input to the second task in a manner that essentially treats the first task as if it were a data object that is to be received by the second task as an input. 
     Regardless of the exact manner in which both tasks are specified in the reduced form of job flow definition  2220  within the depicted task routine execution request message  2434   et , in some embodiments, it may be the fact that a pair of tasks (and not just a single task) are specified in the reduced form of job flow definition  2220  within the task routine execution request message  2434   et  serves as an implicit indication that a data object is to be exchanged between the task routines  2440   s   1  and  2440   s   2  through a shared memory space  2665 . In other embodiments, it may be indications in the task routine execution request message  2434   et  that both tasks are of a type that employ a secondary programming language that serves as such an implicit indication. In still other embodiments, such use of a shared memory space  2665  may be explicitly indicated in the task routine execution request message  2434   et.    
     Second, the depicted task pod  2661   t  may, in response to the task routine execution request message  2434   et , transmit a task in progress message  2434   t ip message back to the performance pod  2661   e  via the task queue  2669   t  to “claim” the requested execution of the pair of task routines  2440   s   1  and  2440   s   2 . In this way, the depicted task pod  2661   t  may accede to becoming the task pod  2661   t  having the task container  2565   t  in which both task routines  2440   s   1  and  2440   s   2  are executed, and in which the depicted shared memory space  2665  may be instantiated as part of enabling the exchange of a data object between the pair of task routines  2440   s   1  and  2440   s   2 . The instance of the resolver routine  2413  may use identifying information provided in the task routine execution message  2434   et  to retrieve at least the task routines  2440   s   1  and  2440   s   2  from federated area(s)  2566  for execution. Third, following completion of the execution of the task routine  2440   s   1  and the resulting generation and storage of the mid-flow data set  2370   s  within the shared memory space  2665 , a first task completed message  2434   tc  may be transmitted back to the performance pod  2661   e  via the task queue  2669   t . Fourth, following completion of the execution of the task routine  2440   s   2  another task completed message  2434   tc  may be transmitted back to the performance pod  2661   e  via the task queue  2669   t.    
     Turning to  FIG.  24 C , the exchange of messages may be relatively similar to what was just discussed in reference to  FIG.  24 B . However, unlike what was just discussed in reference to both  FIGS.  24 A and  24 B , the two tasks that are requested to be performed sequentially within the same task pod  2661   t  may be written in the primary programming language that may be selected as the default programming language supported in the distributed processing system  2000 . Thus, the depicted task routine execution request message  2434   et  may either include an explicit indication that both tasks are of the default task type, thereby resulting in no shared memory space  2665  being provided within the depicted task pod  2661   t . Alternatively, and as also previously discussed, it may be that no indication of task type for either of the two tasks is provided in the task routine execution request message  2434   et , at all, and that this lack of indication of task type serves as an implicit indication that both tasks are of the default task type such that no shared memory space  2665  is provided. 
     As previously discussed, and as will be familiar to those skilled in the art, it has become commonplace in computing devices to employ some form of data buffering in higher speed volatile storage (e.g., RAM) to temporarily store a copy of data that is to be more persistently stored in lower speed non-volatile storage (e.g., a ferromagnetic or solid state “hard disk”). Frequently, such buffering is performed to assemble larger quantities of data that can be more efficiently provided to such lower speed non-volatile storage in less frequent transfers, instead of providing smaller quantities of data in more frequent transfers. The exact quantities of data that are deemed desirable to assemble within higher speed volatile storage in preparation for each such transfer may vary based on numerous factors including, and not limited to, the architecture of the processor(s), the page size of the higher speed volatile storage, the size of a cache that may be local to lower speed non-volatile storage, the size of packets of a network through which data must be transmitted to reach the lower speed non-volatile storage, etc. 
     Regardless of the operational details of, and/or the specific rationale for, such data buffering to be used by devices  2500  and/or  2600  of the distributed processing system  2000 , it may be deemed desirable to arrange for two or more tasks that directly exchange data thereamong to be performed sequentially within the same task pod  2661   t . In this way, and as depicted, when a first task routine  2440 - 1  for a corresponding first task outputs a mid-flow data set  2370   p  for storage within a federated area  2566  within slower speed non-volatile storage, at least a portion of that mid-flow data set  2370   p  is temporarily buffered within higher speed volatile storage. As a result of executing a second task routine  2440 - 2  for a corresponding second task immediately after, and within the same task pod  2661   t , it is at least more likely that advantage may be taken of such buffering to more speedily provide that mid-flow data set  2370   p  to the second task routine  2440 - 2  as an input. 
     In contrast, were the second task routine  2440 - 2  allowed to be executed within a different task pod  2661   t , that different task pod  2661   t  may be instantiated within an entirely different device  2500  or  2600  such that a considerable delay may be incurred. More specifically, there would be a need to wait for the mid-flow data set  2370   p  to first be fully stored within the lower speed non-volatile storage in which a federated area  2566  is maintained, followed by a need to wait for the mid-flow data set  2370   p  to be fully retrieved therefrom and provided to the different device  2500  or  2600  in which the different task pod  2661   t  is instantiated. 
       FIG.  24 D  depicts another example of two tasks to be performed sequentially within the same task pod  2661   t , with a mid-flow data set  2370   p  to be exchanged therebetween, and where advantage is sought to be taken of the temporary buffering of that mid-flow data set  2370   p  as part of storing it within a federated area  2566 . However, unlike what was just discussed in reference to  FIG.  24 C , an entirely different messaging protocol involving distinct sub-queues of the task queue  2669   t  may be used to effect such sequential execution. 
     More specifically, and as previously discussed, the task queue  2669   t  may be made up of a combination of a single group sub-queue  2669   t - grp , and a set of individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind . Again, access to the single group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  may be shared by all of the task pods  2661   t  (or at least, by all task pods  2661   t  of the same type) such that exchanges of messages between the one or more performance pods  2661   e  and any of those task pods  2661   t  is visible to all others of those task pods  2661   t . Also again, each one of those task pods  2661   t  may be provided with access to a different one of individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind , where that access is not shared with any other task pods  2661   t , thereby providing each of those task pods  2661   t  with its own alternate path for exchanging messages with the one or more performance pods  2661   e  that is not visible to any other task pod  2661   t.    
     In using both the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  and one of the individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind  to cause the sequential performances of a first task and then a second task within the same task pod  2661   t , where the first and second tasks exchange of a mid-flow data set  2370   p  therebetween, the first message exchanged may be a first task routine execution request message  2434   et - 1  that is output onto the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  by the depicted performance pod  2661   e . Unlike the single task routine execution request messages  2434   et  discussed in reference to  FIGS.  24 B and  24 C , this first task routine execution request message  2434   et - 1  depicted in  FIG.  24 D  may specify the performance of just the first task. 
     In response to this output of the first task routine execution request message  2434   et - 1  onto the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp , the depicted task pod  2661   t  may “claim” this requested task routine execution by at least outputting a first task in-progress message  2434   tip - 1 . As previously discussed, in some embodiments, the first task in-progress message  2434   tip - 1  may be output onto the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  as the mechanism to make its claim in a manner that is visible to all other task pods  2661   t  that also have access to the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp.    
     However, and as also previously discussed, in other embodiments, the first task in-progress message  2434   tip - 1  may, instead, be output onto the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind  to which the depicted task pod  2661   t  has access, and it may be that the depicted task pod  2661   t  de-queues the first task routine execution request message  2434   et - 1  as the mechanism to make the claim visible to all other task pods  2661   t  having access to the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp . Again, as previously discussed, it may be that this individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind  is not meant to remain instantiated on an ongoing basis, and so, as part of conveying the first task in-progress message  2434   tip - 1  to the depicted performance pod  2661   e , the depicted task pod  2661   t  may, beforehand, instantiate this individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind.    
     Regardless of the exact manner in which the first task in-progress message  2434   tip - 1  is conveyed back to the depicted performance pod  2661   e , the instance of the resolver routine  2413  may retrieve the first task routine  2440 - 1  from a federated area  2566 , which may then be executed within the depicted task container  2565   t  within the depicted task pod  2661   t , such that the first task is performed. In so doing, the mid-flow data set  2370   p  is generated and is output to a federated area  2566 . Again, as a result of the commonplace practice of buffering at least portions of data that are to be persistently stored, at least a portion of the mid-flow data set  2370   p  may be temporarily buffered within higher speed volatile storage where it may be retrieved far more quickly for further use within the depicted task pod  2661   t  than from a federated area  2566 . 
     Upon completion of the execution of first task routine  2440 - 1  to perform the first task, the task pod  2661   t  may output a first task routine execution completion message  2434   tc - 1  onto its individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind . At this point, if the depicted performance pod  2661   e  were to output a second task routine execution request message  2434   et - 2  for the second task onto the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp , then any of the task pods  2661   t  having access to the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  may claim this requested task routine execution to perform the second task. Also, at this point, if the depicted performance pod  2661   e  were to de-queue the first task routine execution completion message  2434   tc - 1  from the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind  without first outputting the second task routine execution request message  2434   et - 2 , then the depicted task pod  2661   t  may uninstantiate the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind , and then become available to perform any other task for which a request message is output onto the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp.    
     So, to prevent the depicted task pod  2661   t  from uninstantiating its individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind , and to prevent the depicted task pod  2661   t  from claiming a requested task routine execution for a task other than the second task as the next one, the depicted performance pod  2661   e  may read the first completion message  2434   tc - 1  to receive the indication of completion of the first task, but may refrain from de-queuing the first completion message  2434   tc - 1  until after the depicted performance pod  2661   e  has output the second task routine execution request message  2434   et - 2  onto the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind . In this way, the depicted task pod  2661   t  is able to be explicitly instructed to execute a task routine  2440  to cause the performance of the second task via a pathway between it and the depicted performance pod  2661   e  that is not visible to any other task pod  2661   t.    
     In response to this output of the second task routine execution request message  2434   et - 2  onto the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind , the depicted task pod  2661   t  may confirm its receipt of this request (as well as confirming that the depicted task pod  2661   t  is acceding to that request) by outputting a second task in-progress message  2434   tip - 1  onto the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind . The instance of the resolver routine  2413  may retrieve the second task routine  2440 - 2  from a federated area  2566 , which may then be executed within the task container  2565   t , such that the second task is performed. The mid-flow data set  2370   p  may be retrieved from the federated area  2566  into which it was stored as part of the performance of the first task. However, as a result of the aforedescribed buffering of at a least portion of the mid-flow data set  2370   p  (if not all of it), at least that a portion of the mid-flow data set  2370   p  is actually retrieved from such buffering, thereby potentially avoiding incurring the delay that would be imposed by actually retrieving it from the federated area  2566 . 
     Upon completion of the execution of second task routine  2440 - 2  to perform the second task, the task pod  2661   t  may output a second task routine execution completion message  2434   tc - 2  onto the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind . In response, and presuming that there isn&#39;t a need to cause a third task to be similarly sequentially performed within the same depicted task pod  2661   t , the depicted performance pod  2661   e  may simply de-queue the second completion message  2434   tc - 2  from the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind . In response, the depicted task pod  2661   t  may then uninstantiate the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind , and return to monitoring the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  for another task routine execution request message  2434   et  for another task to perform. 
       FIGS.  25 A,  25 B,  25 C and  25 D , together, illustrate various aspects of automated handling of multiple unsuccessful attempts at executing a task routine  2440  as part of performing a job flow in an architecture employing both pod-based resource allocation and message-based coordination of MTC, such as the exemplary internal architecture of  FIGS.  21 A-N . More specifically,  FIG.  25 A  depicts aspects of a situation in which repeated attempts may be made to execute a task routine  2440  that each end in failure, followed by an instance of the kill routine  2415  being triggered to cause cessation of further attempts.  FIGS.  25 B,  25 C and  25 D , together, depict aspects of the manner in which, through the message-based coordination, the message output by the kill routine  2415  propagates to cause a corresponding cessation of further efforts to perform any other portion of the job flow, and to reflect the occurrence of an error to a requesting device  2100  or  2800 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  25 A , it may be that an error condition exists within a particular task routine  2440  and/or within a job flow that employs the task routine  2440  to perform a task thereof such that none of repeated attempts to execute the same task routine  2440  have resulted in a successful completion of the performance of the corresponding task. More specifically, it may be that each attempt at executing the task routine  2440  within a task container  2565   t  within a task pod  2661   t  has resulted in the crashing of at least the task routine  2440 , which would typically also cause a corresponding crash of (or other form of halting of) the task container  2565   t.    
     It is recognized that the causes for at least some instances of failure for a task routine  2440  to successfully execute may be transient circumstances that may not be specific to the task routine  2440 , itself, or to the job flow with which the execution of the task routine  2440  is associated. By way of example, hardware and/or software failures within ones of the federated devices  2500  and/or ones of the storage devices  2600  may occur, and/or failures in communications between such devices may occur. Further, despite the presence of various devices, protocols and/or systems to provide some degree of redundancy to overcome such failures, there can still be instances where the execution of routines can still be adversely affected for at least a brief period before recovery from such failures can be fully effectuated. 
     As a result, it may be that such an exemplary internal architecture as presented in  FIGS.  21 A-N  incorporates the ability to counteract such failures so as to enable the successful performance of job flows in spite of such failures. More specifically, where a crash arising from an attempt to execute a task routine  2440  occurs within a task pod  2661   t , core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  may be caused by ongoing execution of the resource allocation routine  2411  to respond by uninstantiating that task pod  2661   t , and then instantiating a new task pod  2661   t  as a replacement (though doing so may be delayed depending on changing levels of availability of resources). Execution the crashed task routine  2440  may be re-attempted within a new task pod  2661   t  or an existing task pod  2661   t  that becomes available. As previously discussed, the presence of a task routine execution request message  2434   et  on the task queue  2669   t  that conveys the request to execute the task routine  2440  may serve as the trigger to cause such a re-attempting thereof. 
     However, while such a mechanism to cause the execution of a task routine  2440  to be re-attempted following a crash may be effective in addressing an occasional failure in execution that is not caused by an error within a task routine  2440  and/or within a job flow that requires its execution, such a mechanism may be ill suited to a situation in which there is such an error within a task routine  2440  and/or within a job flow that requires its execution. It may be that an endless loop of re-attempting to execute the task routine  2440  results, which may consume valuable resources and lead to a situation where the performance of the associated job flow is never completed with either a favorable or unfavorable result. 
     To address such a situation, the instance of the messaging routine  2414  within the messaging container  2565   m  within each task pod  2661   t  may respond to an occurrence of a crash of a task routine  2440  within the task container  2565   t  by outputting a message  2434   tf  indicating failure in the execution of the task routine  2440  onto the task kill queue  2669   tk . Within the kill pod  2661   k , the instance of the kill routine  2415  being executed within the kill container  2565   k  thereof may monitor the task kill queue  2669   tk  (through the instance of the messaging routine  2414  executed within the messaging container  2565   m  therein) for instances of such task failure messages  2434   tf . Each such task failure message  2434   tf  may include the job flow identifier  2221 , the task routine identifier  2441  and/or other identifiers to identify the task routine  2440  that crashed and/or the job flow that required the execution of the task routine. 
     In some embodiments, core(s)  2555  of processors  2550  may be caused by ongoing execution of the kill routine  2415  to count the quantities of task failure messages  2434   tf  that are associated with each job flow or that are associated with each combination of job flow and a particular task routine  2440 . Where one of such counts associated with a job flow reaches a predetermined maximum count threshold for execution failures, a kill tasks message  2434   kt  may be output from the kill pod  2661   k  onto the task kill queue  2669   tk  to convey an instruction to cease any further execution of any task routine  2440  where such execution is associated with the job flow for which the maximum threshold count was reached. Again, as discussed in reference to other messages, the kill tasks message  2434   kt  is not addressed to any one particular task pod  2661   t , but is instead addressed to all task pods  2661   tk  in which a task routine  2440  is being executed in connection with the specified job flow. 
     Turning to  FIG.  25 B , in response to the output of the kill tasks message  2434   kt , each such task pod  2661   t  in which such an execution of a task routine  2440  is currently underway may cease such execution, and from each such task pod  2661   t , a message  2434   tk  indicative of the cancelation of execution of the task routine  2440  therein may be output onto the task queue  2669   t . Each such task cancelation message  2434   tk  may include the job flow identifier  2221  that identifies the job flow with the execution of the canceled task  2440  was associated. Each such task cancelation message  2434   tk  may also include an indication that the reason for such cancelation is that the job flow has been requested to be canceled due to a detected recurring error in attempts to execute one of the task routines  2440 . Upon receipt of one or more of such task cancelation messages  2434   tk , the instance of the performance component  2544  within its corresponding one of the performance pods  2661   e  may respond by ceasing to cause any more executions of task routines  2440  associated with the job flow to occur, and may output a job flow cancelation message  2434   jk  onto the job queue  2669   j . The job flow cancelation message  2434   jk  may include the job flow identifier  2221  of the job flow. 
     Turning to  FIG.  25 C , as previously discussed, in some embodiments, the task queue  2669   t  may be made up of a combination of a single group sub-queue  2669   t - grp , and a set of individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind . Again, access to the single group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  may be shared by all of the task pods  2661   t  (or at least, by all task pods  2661   t  of the same type) such that exchanges of messages between the one or more performance pods  2661   e  and any of those task pods  2661   t  is visible to all others of those task pods  2661   t . Also again, each one of those task pods  2661   t  may be provided with access to a different one of individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind , where that access is not shared with any other task pods  2661   t , thereby providing each of those task pods  2661   t  with its own alternate path for exchanging messages with the one or more performance pods  2661   e  that is not visible to any other task pod  2661   t.    
     In such embodiments, it may be that, as part of the actions taken by each task pod  2661   t  in canceling a performance of a task of a job flow performance that is being canceled, the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind  that corresponds to that task pod  2661   t  may be uninstantiated. So, more specifically, each such task pod  2661   t  that is involved in such a cancelation may, first, output a task cancelation message  2434   tk  onto its corresponding individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind . Second, after that task cancelation message  2434   tk  has been de-queued from that individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind  by the performance pod  2661   e  that currently controls the performance of the now canceled job flow, that same task pod  2661   t  may then uninstantiate that individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind.    
     Turning to  FIG.  25 D , in response to the output of the job flow cancellation message  2434   jk , the instance of the portal component  2549  that is currently involved in the performance of the job flow may update the indication of status of the performance of the job flow within the request data  2535  from an indication that the performance is underway to an indication that the performance has been canceled. That same instance of the performance component  2549  may also cause the transmission, to the requesting device  2100  or  2800  that had originally requested the performance of the job flow, an indication that the performance has been canceled due to an error having been encountered. 
       FIGS.  26 A,  26 B,  26 C,  26 D and  26 E , together, illustrate various aspects of effecting a requested cancelation of a performance of a job flow in an architecture employing both pod-based resource allocation and message-based coordination of MTC, such as the exemplary internal architecture of  FIGS.  21 A-N . More specifically,  FIG.  26 A  depicts aspects of the receipt of a request from a requesting device to cancel a performance of a job flow that had earlier been requested to be performed.  FIGS.  26 B,  26 C,  26 D and  26 E , together, depict aspects of the manner in which, through the message-based coordination, a message that is output to cause a cessation of executions of tasks of the job flow leads to a cessation of other aspects of the performance of the job flow. 
     Turning to  FIG.  26 A , one of the one or more instances of the portal component  2549  may receive a request, through the network  2999  from a requesting device  2100  or  2800 , to cancel a previously requested performance of a job flow. It should be noted that such a request to cancel a performance of a job flow may be received an handled by a different one of the instances of the portal component  2549  than the instance that is currently monitoring the performance of the job flow, as previously requested. To ensure that the cancelation is performed in spite of the possibility of the instance of the portal component  2549  that received the cancelation request being uninstantiated, that instance of the portal component  2549  may output a kill job flow message  2434   kj  onto the job kill queue  2669   jk.    
     Turning to  FIG.  26 B , following such outputting of the kill job flow message  2434   kj  on to the job kill queue  2669   jk , that same instance of the performance component  2549  may then output a kill tasks message  2434   kt  onto the task kill queue  2669   tk . This kill tasks message  2434   kt  may be very similar to the kill tasks message  2434   kt  earlier described in reference to  FIG.  26 A  as being output by the kill routine  2415  inasmuch as the kill tasks message  2434   kt  may specify that all execution of task routines  2440  within task pods  2661   t  must cease where the execution of those tasks is associated with the performance of the job flow that is requested to be canceled. 
     Turning to  FIG.  26 C , the response to the output of the kill tasks message  2434   kt  may be very much like what was described in reference to  FIG.  26 B . Again, each such task pod  2661   t  in which such an execution of a task routine  2440  is currently underway may cease such execution, and from each such task pod  2661   t , a message  2434   tk  indicative of the cancelation of execution of the task routine  2440  therein may be output onto the task queue  2669   t . Each such task cancelation message  2434   tk  may include the job flow identifier  2221  that identifies the job flow with which the execution of the canceled task  2440  was associated. Each such task cancelation message  2434   tk  may also include an indication that the reason for such cancelation is that the job flow has been requested to be canceled. Upon receipt of one or more of such task cancelation messages  2434   tk , the instance of the performance component  2544  within its corresponding one of the performance pods  2661   e  may respond by ceasing to cause any more executions of task routines  2440  associated with the job flow to occur, and may output a job flow cancelation message  2434   jk  onto the job queue  2669   j . The job flow cancelation message  2434   jk  may also include the job flow identifier  2221  of the job flow. 
     Turning to  FIG.  26 D , as was discussed in reference to  FIG.  25 C , in some embodiments, the task queue  2669   t  may be made up of a combination of a single group sub-queue  2669   t - grp , and a set of individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind . Again, in such embodiments, it may be that, as part of the actions taken by each task pod  2661   t  in canceling a performance of a task of a job flow performance that is being canceled, the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind  that corresponds to that task pod  2661   t  may be uninstantiated. So, again, each such task pod  2661   t  that is involved in such a cancelation may, first, output a task cancelation message  2434   tk  onto its corresponding individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind . Second, after that task cancelation message  2434   tk  has been de-queued from that individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind  by the performance pod  2661   e  that currently controls the performance of the now canceled job flow, that same task pod  2661   t  may then uninstantiate that individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind.    
     Turning to  FIG.  26 E , the response to the output of the job flow cancelation message  2434   jk  may be very much like what was described in reference to  FIG.  26 C . Again, the instance of the portal component  2549  that currently oversees the performance of the job flow may update the indication of status of the performance of the job flow within the request data  2535  from an indication that the performance is underway to an indication that the performance has been canceled. That same instance of the performance component  2549  may also cause the transmission, to the requesting device  2100  or  2800  that had originally requested the performance of the job flow (which may or may not be the same requesting device  2100  or  2800  from which the request to cancel the performance was received), an indication that the performance has been canceled due to a request to do so. Further, the instance of the portal component  2549 , whether it is the same instance that also oversaw the performance of the job flow, or not, may remove the kill job flow message  2434   kj  from the job kill queue  2669   jk.    
       FIGS.  27 A,  27 B,  27 C,  27 D,  27 E,  27 F,  27 G,  27 H,  27 I,  27 J,  27 K,  27 L,  27 M,  27 N,  27 O,  27 P,  27 Q,  27 R,  27 S,  27 T,  27 U ,  27 V and  27 W, together, illustrate further aspects of performing a job flow in which, unlike what was illustrated in  FIGS.  23 A-L , a subset of the tasks are performed using multiple instances of the same task routine that are executed at least partially in parallel to more efficiently work with larger data objects as a set of multiple data object blocks. More specifically,  FIG.  27 A  illustrates aspects of the job flow, including its job flow definition  2220   fgh i.  FIGS.  27 B and  27 C , together, depict aspects of receiving a request to perform the job flow from a requesting device  2100  or  2800 , and of using messaging to trigger and ensure the performance of the job flow.  FIGS.  27 D,  27 E,  27 F,  27 G and  27 H , together, depict aspects of using messaging to coordinate the performance of a division task to prepare for performing subsequent tasks with a set of blocks of a flow input data set  2330 .  FIGS.  27 I,  27 J,  27 K,  27 L,  27 M,  27 N,  27 O,  27 P and  27 Q , together, depict aspects of using messaging to coordinate the performance of two tasks as with multiple instances of task routines at least partially in parallel with sets of blocks of the flow input data set  2330  and of a mid-flow data set  2370 .  FIGS.  27 R,  27 S,  27 T and  27 U , together, depict aspects of using messaging to coordinate the performance of a combiner task to combine a set of blocks of a result report  2770  generated by the performances of preceding tasks.  FIG.  27 V  depicts aspects of using messaging to coordinate the completion of the performance of the job flow.  FIG.  27 W  depicts aspects of the manner in which the kill pod  2661   k  may trigger a cancelation of the job flow where errors occur in attempts to execute multiple instances of a task routine  2440 . 
       FIG.  27 A  depicts the example job flow that is about to be performed throughout  FIGS.  27 B through  27 W  to illustrate various aspects of coordinating and performing a job flow in which a subset of the tasks are performed on data objects that are divided into data object blocks using multiple instances of a task routine  2440  that are executed at least partially in parallel. It should be noted that, for sake of ease of understanding, this example job flow is a deliberately highly simplified so as to avoid unnecessary visual clutter as an aid to ease of understanding of what is depicted, discussed and claimed herein, and should not be taken as limiting what is described and claimed herein as being applicable only to such simplistic circumstances. Indeed, it is envisioned that what is depicted, discussed and claimed herein is to be used with job flows of greater complexity and more numerous tasks to be performed. 
     As a further aid to the discussion that follows in reference to  FIGS.  27 B-W , this deliberately highly simplified job flow is depicted beside the flow definition  2225  of the job flow definition  2220   fgh i for this job flow. As previously discussed in reference to at least  FIGS.  17 A-B , the flow definition  2225  within a job flow definition  2220  may include both flow task identifiers  2241  that identify tasks to be performed, and task type identifiers  2242  that identify a task type for each of those tasks. As has been previously discussed, different task types may be defined for tasks that may differ on the basis of what resources are required for their performance and/or for other aspects of their performance that may differ. For an embodiment of the distributed processing system  2000  in which this deliberately highly simplified example job flow of just four tasks is to be performed, it may be that there are at least type 1 tasks that are performed by executing a single instance of a task routine  2440  within a single type 1 task pod  2661   t   1 , and type 2 tasks that are performed by executing multiple instances of a task routine  2440  at least partially in parallel across multiple type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 . 
     As depicted, this deliberately simplified job flow of just four tasks uses a flow input data set  2330  as an input to a division task “f” that may divide the flow input data set  2330  into a set of data object blocks  2336   d   1 - dx , thereby generating a distributed form of the flow input data set  2330 , namely the flow input data set  2330   d . As task “f” is a type 1 task, the performance of task “f” may be effected by executing a single instance of a task routine  2440   f  within a single task pod. The distributed form  2330   d  may then be used as an input to a second task “g” in which any of a variety of operations may be performed, separately, and at least partially in parallel, with the data object blocks  2336   d   1 - dx  to generate corresponding data object blocks  2376   d   1 - x  of a distributed form of a mid-flow data set, namely the depicted mid-flow data set  2370   d . As task “g” is a type 2 task, the performance of task “g” may be effected by executing multiple instances of a task routine  2440   g , at least partially in parallel, across multiple task pods. Within those same multiple task pods, multiple instances of another task routine  2440   h  may be executed to similarly perform any of a variety of operations of a third task “h” (another type 2 task) with the data object blocks  2376   d   1 - x  of the mid-flow data set  2370   d , thereby generating corresponding data object blocks  2776   d   1 - x  of a distributed form of a result report  2770 , namely the depicted result report  2770   d . Following the generation of all of the data object blocks  2776   d   1 - x  of the result report  2770   d , a single instance of a task routine  2440   i  may be executed within a single task pod to perform a combiner task “i” (another type 1 task) that may combine all of the data object blocks  2776   d   1 - x  into an undivided form of the result report  2770   d , namely the result report  2770 . 
     Turning to  FIGS.  27 B and  27 C , in a manner very much like what was previously depicted and discussed in reference to  FIGS.  23 A-D , an instance of the portal component  2549  that is executed by core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  within a portal container  2565   p  of a portal pod  2661   p  may receive a request, through the network  2999 , and from a requesting device  2100 / 2800 , to perform the job flow depicted in  FIG.  27 A . Again, the request may be subjected to any of a variety of analyses to determine whether it is an authorized request using information within the portal data  2539 . Presuming that it is determined to be authorized, an entry for the request may be generated within the request data  2535  to provide at least one mechanism by which the fact of having received the request may be recorded, and/or to maintain an indication of the current status of performance of the request. Again, the initial status may be a “running” status, and an indication of this running status may be transmitted back to the requesting device  2100 / 2800  via the network  2999 . 
     Following such storage and transmission of the current “running” status of the requested job performance, further execution of the instance of the portal component  2549  may cause core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  to retrieve various object(s) from one or more federated areas  2566  as part of preparing to for the requested job flow performance. Again, this may entail cooperation with one or more other components  2541 ,  2542 ,  2543 ,  2545  and/or  2547  that may also be executed by one or more cores  2555  of one or more processors  2550 . As has been previously discussed, the request received from the requesting device  2100 / 2800  may be any of a variety of types of request that may identify the job flow in various ways. For example, the request may simply be to perform the job flow using the most current versions of task routines  2440  to do so, and may directly specify the job flow by its identifier. Alternatively, the request may be to repeat a past performance of job flow using the very same versions of task routines  2440  that were used in that past performance, and may indirectly specify the job flow by the identifier of an instance log  2720   fgh i that documents that past performance. Thus, depending on such aspects of the received request, one or both of the job flow definition  2220   fgh i and such an instance log  2270   fgh i may be retrieved from federated area(s). As previously discussed in reference to at least  FIGS.  17 A-B , both a job flow definition  2220  and an instance log  2720  may include information setting forth the tasks of a job flow, and may specify dependencies among those tasks such that an order in which those tasks are to be performed may be derived. 
     As also discussed in reference to  FIGS.  23 A-D , execution of the identifier component  2541  may cause core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  to generate globally unique identifiers (GUIDs) for the instance of performance of the job flow that has been requested, and for each instance of performance of a task that is part of the job flow. A single job flow instance identifier  2701  for the instance of performance of the job flow that has been requested may be generated, along with a separate task instance identifier  2704  for each instance of performance of a task that is to occur as part of performing the job flow. 
     Following such a retrieval of object(s) and such a generation of identifier(s), the instance of the portal component  2549  may cooperate with the messaging routine  2414  executed within the messaging container  2565   m  to output within the same portal pod  2661   p  to output, onto the job queue  2669   j , a job flow performance request message  2434   pj  that conveys the instruction to perform the job flow. Again, the request message  2434   pj  may include the job flow definition  2220   fgh i and/or the instance log  2720   fgh i, along with the job flow instance identifier  2701  and the set of task instance identifiers  2704  for the tasks to be performed. Also, the request message  2434   pj  may additionally include the federated area identifier(s)  2569  of each of the federated areas  2566  to which access is authorized, thereby specifying the federated areas  2566  from which objects may be retrieved to perform each task of the job flow. 
     Again, it may be that none of the messages that are output onto each of the message queues  2669  are actually directed to any particular pod  2661  or any particular instance of a routine being executed within a pod  2661 . Instead, each of the messages may be directed to an available pod  2661  of a particular type in which an available instance of a routine is available to become involved in the performance of a job flow, or in which an instance of a routine is already involved in the performance of a job flow. Thus, and more specifically, the job flow performance request message  2434   pj  that relays the request to perform the job flow may be meant to be received by whichever one of the performance pods  2661   e  happens to contain an instance of the performance component  2544  that is available to take on the work of controlling of the executions of individual task routines  2440  as part of actually effectuating the performance of the job flow. 
     As depicted, it may be that one of the performance pods  2661   e  does contain an instance of the performance component  2544  that is being executed within its performance container  2565   e , and that is available to provide such control over such executions of task routines  2440 . As further depicted, in some embodiments, the available instance of the performance component  2544  may cooperate with the instance of the messaging routine  2414  within the corresponding messaging container  2565   m  to output a job in-progress message  2434   j ip onto the job queue  2669   j  that provides an indication that such per-task actions to effectuate the performance of the job flow are in progress, such that the “running” status indicated in the request data  2535  for this instance of performing the job flow is now correct. 
     Again, it may be that the job in-progress message  2434   j ip is also not directed to any particular one of the portal pods  2661   p , but instead, is directed to whichever one of the portal pods  2661   p  is the one that contains the instance of the portal component  2549  that is currently involved in the performance of the job flow. To do this, the in-progress message  2434   j ip may include the job flow instance identifier  2701  and/or other identifier(s) to identify the job flow and/or the instance of its performance that is the subject of this message. Such an indirect approach to directing the in-progress message  2434   j ip to a destination among the multiple portal pods  2661   p  may be in recognition of the possibility that, following the output of the request message  2434   pj  (to which the output of the job in-progress message  2434   j ip is a response), the portal pod  2661   p  from which the request message  2434   pj  was output may have been uninstantiated, and another instance of the portal component  2549  within another one of the portal pods  2661   p  may have taken over in becoming involved in this instance of performing the job flow. 
     In some embodiments, it may be that the act of outputting the job in-progress message  2434   j ip onto the job queue  2669   j  by an instance of the performance component  2544  serves as the mechanism by which that instance of the performance component  2544  effectively “claims” the requested performance of the job flow as one that it is acceding to becoming involved in. Thus, in this way, the job in-progress message  2434   j ip may serve the function of providing an indication that is visible to other instances of the performance component  2544  that this job flow performance request has been claimed such that no other instance of the performance component  2544  needs to do so. In such embodiments, it may be that the job in-progress message  2434   j ip includes an identifier of the instance of the performance component  2544  that made this claim. 
     In other embodiments, it may be that the “claiming” of the requested performance of the job flow is effectuated with more than one action involving the job queue  2669   j . First, the instance of the messaging routine  2414  of the performance pod  2661   e  that becomes involved in performing the requested job flow may de-queue the job flow performance request message  2434   pj  from the job queue  2669   j  to prevent the instance of messaging routine  2414  within another performance pod  2661   e  from taking action to “claim” the same job flow. Then, as the second step, that instance of the messaging routine  2414  may output the job in-progress message  2434   j ip onto the job queue  2669   j.    
     In embodiments in which the de-queuing of the job flow performance request message  2434   pj  from the job queue is not performed as part of “claiming” the requested job flow performance, it may be a combination of the storage of the “running” indication within the request data  2535 , the output of the request message  2434   pj  onto the job queue  2669   j  and/or the output of the job in-progress message  2434   j ip onto the job queue  2669   j  that serves as a mechanism to record the fact that a performance of a job flow is supposed to be underway. More specifically, it may be a combination of the “running” indication within the request data  2535  and/or the output of the request message  2434   pj  onto the job queue  2669   j  that serves to trigger another instance of the portal component  2549  within another portal pod  2661   p  to take over if the portal pod  2661   p  containing the instance of the portal component  2549  that originally received the request from the requesting device  2100 / 2800  is uninstantiated before the job flow performance is completed. Alternatively or additionally, it may be a combination of the job flow performance request message  2434   pj  and/or the job in-progress message  2434   j ip being output onto the job queue  2669   j  that serves to trigger another instance of performance component  2544  within another performance pod  2661   e  to take over if the performance pod  2661   e  containing the instance of the performance component  2544  that originally “claimed” the requested job flow performance is uninstantiated before the job flow performance is completed. 
     However, in embodiments in which the de-queuing of the job flow performance request message  2434   pj  from the job queue is performed as part of “claiming” the requested job flow performance, it may be just one or the other of the “running” indication within the request data  2535  and the output of the job in-progress message  2434   j ip onto the job queue  2669   j  that serves as a mechanism to record the fact that a performance of a job flow is supposed to be underway. More specifically, it may be the “running” indication within the request data  2535  that serves to trigger another instance of the portal component  2549  within another portal pod  2661   p  to take over if the portal pod  2661   p  containing the instance of the portal component  2549  that originally received the request from the requesting device  2100 / 2800  is uninstantiated before the job flow performance is completed. Alternatively or additionally, it may be the job in-progress message  2434   j ip being output onto the job queue  2669   j  that serves to trigger another instance of performance component  2544  within another performance pod  2661   e  to take over if the performance pod  2661   e  containing the instance of the performance component  2544  that originally “claimed” the requested job flow performance is uninstantiated before the job flow performance is completed. 
     Turning to  FIGS.  27 D and  27 E , regardless of the exact manner in which an instance of the performance component  2544  claims the requested job flow performance, thereby acceding to becoming involved in effectuating that performance, further execution of the instance of the performance component  2544  may cause core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  to analyze the flow definition  2225  within the job flow definition  2220   fgh i (or the flow description  2725  within the instance log  2720   fgh i) to derive an order of performance of the four tasks of the job flow. In this way, an order of execution of task routines  2440  associated with these four tasks is derived. As was depicted in  FIG.  27 A , the four tasks of this job flow have dependencies thereamong that necessitate being performed in the order that was depicted, namely f, g, h and i. Upon deriving such an order of performance of these four tasks, that instance of the performance component  2544  may then cooperate with the instance of the messaging routine  2414  being executed within the corresponding messaging container  2565   m  to output, onto the task queue  2669   t  (i.e., store within the task queue  2669   t ), a task routine execution request message  2434   et - f  that requests the execution of a task routine  2440  to effect the performance of task “f”. 
     As has previously been discussed, in embodiments of the distributed processing system  2000  in which there are different types of tasks such that there are different types of task pods  2661   t , there may, correspondingly, be a separate task queue  2669   t  for the exchange of messages  2434  between the performance pods  2661   e  and the task pods  2661   t  of each type. So, as depicted, it may be that there is a distinct task queue  2669   t   1  for the exchange of messages  2434  with type 1 task pods  2661   t   1  that support the execution of task routines  2440  for the performance of type 1 tasks. Therefore, since task “f” is a type 1 task, the task routine execution request message  2434   et - f  for task “f” may be output onto the task queue  2669   t   1  so as to be conveyed to the type 1 task pods  2661   t   1 . 
     As depicted, the task routine execution request message  2434   et - f  may include an indication that the execution of a task routine  2440  for the performance of task “f” is being requested, along with information needed to identify a task routine  2440  that is to be executed to do so. The task routine execution request message  2434   et - f  may further include at least a data object identifier  2331  that identifies the flow input data object  2330  as an input to the performance of task f, the job flow instance identifier  2701 , the task instance identifier  2704  that uniquely identifies this instance of performance of task “f”, and/or the federated area identifier(s)  2569  of the federated area(s)  2566  to which access is authorized to be searched for objects needed to perform the job flow. 
     In addition to transmitting the task routine execution request message  2434   et - f  for task “f” on the type 1 task queue  2669   t   1 , and in a manner similar to what was described in reference to  FIG.  23 F , the same available instance of the performance component  2544  may also transmit a scaling message  2434   x - f  onto the scaling queue  2669   x  for receipt at the single scaling pod  2661   x . The scaling message  2434   x - f  may provide an indication of a need to increase the allocation of (or to at least forestall decreasing the allocation of) type 1 task pods  2661   t   1  to support the execution of task routines  2440  that perform type 1 tasks, such as task “f”. As previously discussed, a scaling routine  2412  executed within a scaling container  2565   x  within the scaling pod  2661   x  may combine such messages from each of the instances of the performance component  2544  that are currently instantiated to generate a combined indication to the resource allocation routine  2411 . Such a combined indication may be of a need for a net increase or decrease of the overall quantity of type 1 task pods  2661   t   1 . Again, this is meant to provide the resource allocation routine  2411  with a preemptive indication of such needs, rather than allowing the resource allocation routine  2411  to remain dependent solely on reacting to observations of degree of use of the different types of pods  2661 . 
     In a manner similar to the job flow performance request message  2434   pj , the task routine execution request message  2434   et - f  may be meant to be received by whichever one of the type 1 task pods  2661   t   1  happens to be available for use in executing a task routine  2440  for the performance of a type 1 task. Again, it should be noted that in embodiments in which the distributed processing system  2000  includes multiple federated devices  2500  and/or multiple storage devices  2600  that are configured to provide processing resources, it may be that there are type 1 task pods  2661   t   1  instantiated by the resource allocation routine  2411  across multiple devices  2500  and/or  2600  interconnected by a network. Thus, the particular type 1 task pod  2661   t   1  that happens to be available for use in executing a task routine  2440  for performing task “f” may be instantiated on any one device  2500  or  2600  of such multiple devices  2500  and/or  2600 . 
     As depicted, it may be that one of the type 1 task pods  2661   t   1  is available to execute a task routine  2440  to perform a type 1 task. As previously discussed in reference to  FIG.  23 G , the instance of the messaging routine  2414  within the messaging container  2565   m  thereof may “claim” the requested job flow execution by, first, de-queuing the task routine execution request message  2434   et - f  from the type 1 task queue  2669   t   1  to prevent “claiming” by another type 1 task pod  2661   t   1 . Then, the same instance of the messaging routine  2414  may output a task in-progress message  2434   tip - f  onto the type 1 task queue  2669   t   1  to indicate that the execution of such a task routine  2440  is in progress. 
     Again, it may be that the task in-progress message  2434   tip - f  is not directed to any particular one of the performance pods  2661   e , but instead, is directed to whichever one of the performance pods  2661   e  is the one that contains the instance of the performance component  2544  that is currently involved in the performance of the job flow. To do this, the task in-progress message  2434   tip - f  may include the job flow instance identifier  2701  and/or the task instance identifier  2704  to identify the job flow and/or the instance of performance of task “f” that is the subject of this message. Such an indirect approach to directing the in-progress message  2434   j ip to a destination among the multiple portal pods  2661   p  may be in recognition of the possibility that, following the output of the request message  2434   et - f  (to which the output of the job in-progress message  2434   tip - f  is a response), the performance pod  2661   e  from which the request message  2434   et - f  was output may have been uninstantiated, and another instance of the performance component  2544  within another one of the performance pods  2661   e  may have taken over in becoming involved in this instance of performing the job flow. 
     It should be noted that, as previously discussed, it may be that the type 1 task queue  2669   t   1  is made up of multiple sub-queues that may convey messages  2434  in opposite directions, and/or may include sub-queues that are shared among multiple task pods  2661   t  and/or sub-queues that are not so shared. However, for the sake of ease of understanding by reducing visual clutter, such details of the type 1 task queue  2669   t   1  are not explicitly depicted. 
     Turning to  FIGS.  27 F and  27 G , regardless of the exact manner in which the type 1 task pod  2661   t   1  claims the requested execution of a task routine  2440  to perform task “f”, the instance of the resolver routine  2413  being executed within the resolver container  2565   r  therein may use the information provided in the task routine execution request message  2434   et - f  to retrieve the various objects needed from federated area(s)  2566  to effectuate the requested execution. In so doing, and as depicted, the resolver routine  2413  may cooperate with one or more of the depicted components  2541 ,  2542 ,  2543 ,  2545  and/or  2547  to at least retrieve each needed object, including the depicted task routine  2440   f  and at least a portion of the flow input data set  2330 . 
     Turning more specifically to  FIG.  27 F , as previously discussed in reference to  FIG.  27 A , task “f” may be a division task that is to be performed to convert the flow input data set  2330  from an undivided form and into a distributed form for use as an input to a type 2 task. Thus, where the flow input data set  2330  is stored within a federated area  2566  in an undivided form as a single data object, the performance of task “f” may result in the flow input data set  2330  being divided into the multiple data object blocks  2336   d   1 - dx  that are each made individually accessible through the generation of a corresponding data block identifier  2335 . As previously discussed in reference to  FIGS.  18 D and  19 A , in various embodiments, a data block identifier  2335  associated with a data object block  2336 / 2376  of a data set  2330 / 2370  may include address information serving as a pointer to where the data object block  2336 / 2376  is stored, may include offset information indicating where the data object block  2336 / 2376  begins within its data set  23302370 , and/or may include index information indicating where the data object block  2336 / 2376  begins within the indexing scheme of the data structure of its data set  2330 / 2370  (e.g., which row within a 2D data structure is the first row of the data object block  2336 / 2376 ). 
     Execution of the task routine  2440   f  within the task container  2565   t  of the type 1 task pod  2661   t   1  may cause core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  of a federated device  2500  to analyze the arrangement of data values within the flow input data set  2330  to derive a manner of dividing the flow input data set  2330  into the set of data object blocks  2336   d   1  through  2336   dx , including the quantity of data object blocks into which the flow input data set  2330  should be divided. Such an analysis may entail cooperation with at least the interpretation component  2547  to employ one or more interpretation rules to identify aspects of the data structure that is used within the flow input data set  2330  to organize data values. Alternatively or additionally, there may be cooperation with the identifier component  2541  to generate the data block identifiers  2335  that are assigned to the data object blocks  2336   d   1 - dx.    
     The analysis of the data structure used within the flow input data set  2330  may include identifying a type of grouping of data values therein that defines an atomic unit of the data structure that may aid in defining the exact boundary at which the divide between each pair of adjacent data object blocks  2336   d   1 - dx  is to be made. By way of example, where the data values within the flow input data set  2330  are arranged in a 2D array data structure (e.g., a table), the rows may be identified as providing the type of grouping of data values such that the rows are treated as the atomic units, and each boundary between a pair of adjacent data blocks  2336   d   1 - dx  may be defined to be between two adjacent rows. 
     The determination of the quantity of data object blocks  2336   d   1  through  2336   dx  into which the flow input data set  2330  is to be divided may be based on one or more factors associated with the flow input data set  2330 , including and not limited to, the type of data structure used to organized data values within the flow input data set  2330  and/or the size of the atomic unit that is identified therein. Alternatively or additionally, such a determination may be based on one or more factors associated with the distributed processing system  2000 , including and not limited to, the quantity of devices  2500  and/or  2600  within the system  2000 , the processing and/or storage resources of the devices  2500  and/or  2600 , the quantity of one or more of the types of task pod  2661   t  instantiated within one or more of the devices  2500  and/or  2600  within the system  2000 , characteristics of the storage space allocated to one or more of the types of task pod  2661   t , etc. In some embodiments, the instance of the messaging routine  2414  within the type 1 task pod  2661   t   1  in which the task routine  2440   f  is executed may have access to one or more environmental variables by which such information may be provided thereto. In such embodiments, it may be that such information is updated as various aspects of the operation of the distributed processing system  2000  change over time. In this way, the derivation of the quantity of the data object blocks  2336   d   1  through  2336   dx  may be at least partially based on various updated aspects of the distributed processing system  2000 . 
     As depicted in  FIG.  27 F , in different embodiments, the division of the flow input data set  2330  into the set of data object blocks  2336   d   1 - dx  may or may not entail actually physically dividing the flow input data set  2330 . More precisely, in some embodiments, the flow input data set  2330  may be retrieved from a federated area  2566 , and then each of the data object blocks  2336   d   1 - dx  into which it is divided may be separately stored within a federated area  2566  as a separate and distinct object that is separately retrievable without requiring the retrieval of any others of the data object blocks  2336   d   1 - dx . As a result, the flow input data set  2330  is caused to be persistently stored twice within different locations within the federated area(s)  2566  - - - once in its original undivided form  2330 , and again in a new distributed form  2330   d  as the set of data object blocks  2336   d   1 - dx.    
     However, in other embodiments, the flow input data set  2330  may be divided into the set of data object blocks  2336   d   1 - dx  in situ where it is already stored within a federated area  2566  without persistently storing a second time within a federated area  2566 . More precisely, it may be that a set of data block identifiers  2335  are simply generated to point to where each of the data objects blocks  2336   d   1 - dx  begin within the flow input data set  2330  where it is already stored within a federated area. In effect, the division of the flow input data set  2330  into the set of data object blocks  2336   d   1 - dx  is effectively overlain atop of where the flow input data set  2330  is already stored such that both the undivided form of the flow input data set  2330  and its distributed form  2330   d  overlap each other. 
     Regardless of the exact manner in which the distributed form  2330   d  of the flow input data set  2330  may be generated and/or stored within a federated area  2566 , the data block identifiers  2335  for the resulting set of data object blocks  2336   d   1 - dx  may be relayed back to the performance pod  2661   e  that is currently involved in controlling the performance of the job flow, as will shortly be explained. 
     Turning more specifically to  FIG.  27 G , in some embodiments, it may be that task “f” is also capable of addressing an alternate situation in which a data object that is to be used as an input to a type 2 task is already stored in distributed form, and therefore, does not require a conversion such as what has just been described in reference to  FIG.  27 F . Thus, where the flow input data object  2330  is already stored as a set of multiple data object blocks  2336   d   1 - dx  such that it is already stored in the distributed form  2330   d , execution of the task routine  2440   f  may cause core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  to respond by simply retrieving the data block identifiers  2335  for the set of data object blocks  2336   d   1 - dx , and relaying them back to the performance pod  2661   e  that is currently involved in controlling the performance of the job flow, as will shortly be explained. 
     As previously discussed in reference to at least  FIG.  18 C , it may be that a data object  2330 / 2370  is sufficiently large that it cannot be stored within a single storage device  2600 , and may be divided into multiple data object blocks  2336 / 2376  for distributed storage within a federated area  2566  that spans multiple storage devices  2600 . As a result, where the flow input data set  2330  is determined, by execution of the task routine  2440   f , to already be so divided, the quantity of the data object blocks  2336   d   1  through  2336   dx  into which the flow input data set  2330  is already divided may be accepted without change. Alternatively, it may be that size of one or more of those already existing data object blocks may be deemed to be too large for use as inputs, and this may lead to a determination that the one or more of those already existing data object blocks should be divided into small data object blocks such that a larger quantity of the data object blocks  2336   d   1  through  2336   dx  results. 
     Turning to  FIG.  27 H , regardless of whether the flow input data set  2330  was already stored in a distributed state, and/or the exact manner in which the flow input data set  2330  is converted into and/or stored in a distributed state, upon completion of the execution of the task routine  2440   f  to perform task “f”, a task routine execution completion message  2434   tc - f  indicating such completion of execution may be output onto the type 1 task queue  2669   t   1 . Again, such the completion message  2434   tc - f  may be directed at whichever one of the instances of the performance component  2544  within one of the performance pods  2661   e  is the instance that is currently controlling the execution of task routines  2440  as part of effectuating the performance of the job flow. To enable this, the completion message  2434   tc - f  may include the job flow instance identifier  2701  and/or the task instance identifier  2704  for task “f”. 
     Also depicted in  FIG.  27 H , the task routine execution completion message  2434   tc - f  may also include the data block identifiers  2335  of the set of data object blocks  2336   d   1 - dx  of the distributed form  2330   d  of the flow input data set  2330 . As will shortly be explained, these data block identifiers  2335  will be used in the at least partially parallel performances of task “g” across multiple type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 . 
     As previously discussed in reference to  FIG.  23 I , it may be the output of the task routine execution completion message  2434   tc - f  onto the type 1 task queue  2669   t   1  that serves as the mechanism to preserve an indication that the corresponding task “f” has been performed, if the instance of the performance component  2544  that currently controls the execution of task routines  2440  for the job flow is uninstantiated, and another instance of the performance component  2544  within another performance pod  2661   e  takes over the control of execution of task routines  2440  for the job flow. 
     Turning to  FIGS.  27 I and  27 J , in response to the receipt of the task execution completion message  2434   tc - f  indicating that task execution to cause the performance of task “f” has been completed, the instance of the performance component  2544  that currently controls the performance of the job flow may cause core(s)  2555  of processor(s)  2550  to determine that task “g” is the next task in the derived order of task performance. Again, in embodiments of the distributed processing system  2000  in which there are different types of tasks such that there are different types of task pods  2661   t , there may, correspondingly, be a separate task queue  2669   t  for the exchange of messages  2434  between the performance pods  2661   e  and the task pods  2661   t  of each type. So, in addition to the type 1 task queue  2669   t   1 , there may also be a distinct type 2 task queue  2669   t   2  for the exchange of messages  2434  with type 2 task pods  2661   t   2  that support the execution of task routines  2440  for the performance of type 2 tasks. Therefore, since task “g” is a type 2 task, messages concerning the performance of task “g” may be exchanged via the type 2 task queue  2669   t   2 . 
     As previously discussed in reference to  FIG.  27 A , for purposes of this example job flow discussed in reference to this example embodiment of the distributed processing system  2000  throughout  FIGS.  27 A-W , a type 2 task is one that is performed with a data object in distributed form as an input using multiple instances of a task routine  2440  that are performed at least partially in parallel across multiple type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 . Thus, to trigger such multiple instances of execution of a single task routine  2440 , a set of multiple task routine execution request messages  2434   et - g   1  through  2434   et - gx  may be output onto the type 2 task queue  2669   t   2 . 
     As depicted, each of the task routine execution request messages  2434   et - g   1  through  2434   et - gx  may include an indication that the execution of a task routine  2440  for the performance of task “g” is being requested, along with information needed to identify a task routine  2440  for which multiple instances are to be executed to do so. Each of the task routine execution request messages  2434   et - g   1  through  2434   et - gx  may further include a single one of the data block identifiers  2335  that identifies a different one of the data object blocks  2336   d   1  through  dx  of the distributed form  2330   d  of the flow input data set  2330 . Additionally included may be the job flow instance identifier  2701 , the task instance identifier  2704  for this instance of performance of task “g”, and/or the federated area identifier(s)  2569  of the federated area(s)  2566  to which access is authorized to be searched for objects needed to perform task “g”. As with the earlier task routine execution request message  2434   et - f , each of the task routine execution request messages  2434   et - g   1  through  2434   et - gx  may be meant to be received by whichever one of the type 2 task pods  2661   t   2  happens to be available for use in executing an instance of a task routine  2440  as part of performing of a type 2 task with multiple data object blocks  2336 / 2376  of a data object  2330 / 2370 . 
     In addition to transmitting the set of multiple task routine execution request messages  2434   et - g   1  through  2434   et - gx  for task “g” on the type 2 task queue  2669   t   2 , and in a manner similar to what was described in reference to  FIG.  27 D , the same instance of the performance component  2544  that currently controls the performance of the job flow may also transmit a scaling message  2434   x - gh  onto the scaling queue  2669   x  for receipt at the single scaling pod  2661   x . The scaling message  2434   x - gh  may provide an indication of a need to increase the allocation of (or to at least forestall decreasing the allocation of) type 2 task pods  2661   t   2  to support the at least partially parallel execution of multiple instances of a single task routine  2440  to performs type 2 tasks, such as task “g”. In so doing, the scaling message  2434   x - gh  may also provide an indication of a need to decrease the allocation of type 1 task pods  2661   t   1  to make more processing and/or storage resources available within the distributed processing system  2000  for an increased quantity of type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 . 
     Turning more specifically to  FIG.  27 J , regardless of the exact manner in which the quantity of type 2 task pods  2661   t   2  is determined and/or controlled, for the sake of ease of understanding in this discussion of the performance of this deliberately simplified example job flow throughout the remainder of  FIGS.  27 B-W , the quantity of type 2 task pods  2661   t   2  will remain three - - - namely, the three depicted type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 - a ,  2661   t   2 - b  and  2661   t   2 - c . It should be noted that, as with the type 1 task pods  2661   t   1  instantiated within the distributed processing system  2000 , it may be that the type 2 task pods  2661   t   2  are also instantiated by the resource allocation routine  2411  across multiple devices  2500  and/or  2600  interconnected by a network. Thus, each of the type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 - a  through  2661   t   2 - c  may be instantiated within a different one of multiple devices  2500  and/or  2600  of the distributed processing system  2000 . As will shortly be discussed in greater detail, this may contribute to the performances of task g across these three type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 - a  through  2661   t   2 - c  taking different amounts of time to complete. Again, this depiction and discussion of this particular quantity of three type 2 task pods is for purposes of aiding in presentation and understanding, and should not be taken as limiting. Indeed, it is contemplated that what is described and claimed herein may be employed in embodiments that include quantities of each of multiple types of task pod  2661   t  that may very greatly during operation from quantities of zero to quite large quantities. 
     Returning to both  FIGS.  27 J and  27 I , as a result of the output of the set of task routine execution request messages  2434   et - g   1  through  2434   et - gx , task pod  2661   t   2 - a  claims the task routine execution that is requested in request message  2434   et - g   1 , task pod  2661   t   2 - b  claims the task routine execution that is requested in request message  2434   et - g   2 , and task pod  2661   t   2 - c  claims the task routine execution that is requested in request message  2434   et - g   3 . Again, each of these three type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 - a  through  2661   t   2 - c  may claim its corresponding one of these requested task routine executions by, first, de-queuing its corresponding one of the task routine execution request messages  2434   et - g   1  through  2434   et - g   3 . Then, each of these three type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 - a  through  2661   t   2 - c  may output its corresponding one of the three depicted task in-progress messages  2434   tip - g   1  through  2434   tip - g   3  onto the type 2 task queue  2669   t   2  to indicate that the execution of the corresponding instance of a task routine  2440  to perform task “g” is in progress. 
     As previously discussed in reference to at least  FIG.  23 J , it may be that the type 2 task queue  2669   t   2  is made up of a combination of a single group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  and multiple individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind . Also, it may be that all of the type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 - a  through  2661   t   2 - c  share access to the single group sub-queue  2669   t - grp . Further, each one of the type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 - a  through  2661   t   2 - c  may also be provided with access to its own individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind - a  through  2669   t - ind - c , respectively. In this way, exchanges of messages between the one or more performance pods  2661   e  and the three type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 - a  through  2661   t   2 - c  may be performed either in a manner that is accessible to all three of these type 2 task pods via the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp , or in a manner that is accessible to just one of them. 
     In such embodiments, the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  may be employed by the instance of the performance component  2544  that currently controls the performance of the job flow performance to convey the set of task routine execution request messages  2434   et - g   1  through  2434   et - gx  to all three of these type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 - a  through  2661   t   2 - c . In this way, all three of these type 2 task pods are informed of all of these requests. As has been discussed, in such embodiments, each of these three type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 - a  through  2661   t   2 - c  may claim the execution of a task routine that is requested in one of these request messages by, first, de-queuing that request message from the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp . Thus, and as depicted in  FIG.  27 J , each of the executions of an instance of a task routine  2440  that are requested in the request messages  2434   et - g   1  through  2434   et - g   3  may begin to be claimed through the de-queuing of each of these three request messages by corresponding ones of the type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 - a  through  2661   t   2 - c , respectively. 
     As has also been discussed, following such de-queuing of a request message  2434   et  from the group sub-queue  2669   t   2 - grp , a task pod that is claiming the task routine execution that is requested in that de-queued message may then output a task in-progress message  2434   t ip on its corresponding individual sub-queue  2669 - ind , thereby providing an indication to the instance of the performance component  2544  that currently controls the execution of task routines  2440  for the job flow that requested task routine execution is in progress and/or identifying itself as the task pod  2661   t  within which that execution is taking place. Thus, and as depicted in  FIG.  27 J , the act of claiming each of the executions of an instance of a task routine  2440  by one of the type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 - a  through  2661   t   2 - c  may be completed by the output of the depicted task in-progress messages  2434   tip - g   1  through  2434   tip - g   3  onto separate ones of the depicted individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind - a  through  2669   t - ind - c , respectively of the type 2 task queue  2669   t   2 . Again, it may be that each one of the three task in-progress messages  2434   tip - g   1  through  24343   tip - g   3  is not directed to any particular one of the performance pods  2661   e , but instead, is directed to whichever one of the performance pods  2661   e  is the one that contains the instance of the performance component  2544  that is currently involved in controlling the performance of the job flow. 
     As discussed earlier in reference to at least  FIG.  27 F , while the quantity of instances of a task routine  2440  that are executed to perform a task with the data object blocks  2336 / 2376  of a data object  2330 / 2370  may be based on the quantity of those data object blocks  2336 / 2376 , the quantity of task pods  2661   t  that may be currently instantiated to support the execution of such multiple instances of a task routine  2440  may be based on a variety of other factors such that these two quantities may not match. Where the quantity of such task pods  2661   t  is greater than the quantity of instances of a task routine  2440  that are to be executed, there may be a period of time during which at least part of the executions of all of those instances occur simultaneously. However, where the quantity of such task pods  2661   t  is less than the quantity of instances of a task routine  2440  that are to be executed, there may necessarily be at least some degree of sequential execution of at least a subset of those instances where at least one of those task pods  2661   t  may need to be employed to execute one of those instances followed by being employed to execute at least one more. Thus, and as depicted in  FIG.  27 J , the executions of instances of a task routine to perform task “g” that are requested in task routine execution request messages  2434   et - g   4  through  2434   et - gx  must occur after those requested in one or more of the task routine execution request messages  2434   et - g   1  through  2434   et - g   3 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  27 K , as previously explained in reference to  FIG.  27 A , the performance of task “g” of the deliberately simplified example job flow used throughout  FIGS.  27 B-W  generates a distributed form  2370   d  of a mid-flow data set from a distributed form  2330   d  of the flow input data set  2330 . Thus, and as depicted, the execution of a first instance of the depicted task routine  2440   g  within the task pod  2661   t   2 - a  causes the performance of task “g” with the data object block  2336   d   1  to generate the data object block  2376   d   1 ; the execution of a second instance of the same task routine  2440   g  within the task pod  2661   t   2 - b  causes the performance of task “g” with the data object block  2336   d   2  to generate the data object block  2376   d   2 ; and the execution of a third instance of the same task routine  2440   g  within the task pod  2661   t   2 - c  causes the performance of task “g” with the data object block  2336   d   3  to generate the data object block  2376   d   3 . 
     More specifically, as each of these three depicted instances of the task routine  2440   g  are executed within the three depicted task pods, data object blocks  2336   d   1 - d   3  are each retrieved from a federated area  2566  using the data block identifier  2335  provided in a corresponding one of the three request messages  2434   et - g   1  through  2434   et - g   3 , a corresponding one of the three data object blocks  2376   d   1 - d   3  is generated and stored at within a federated area  2566  a location accessible through use of a newly generated data block identifier  2335 . It should be noted that task “g” may be any of a variety of types of task that generates the distributed form  2370   d  of mid-flow data set. 
     Turning to  FIGS.  27 L,  27 M and  27 N , as previously discussed, due to the possibility that each of the three type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 - a  through  2661   t   2 - c  may be instantiated within different devices  2500  and/or  2600  that may provide processing and/or storage resources of differing characteristics, significantly different amounts of time may be required to complete the performance of the very same task “g” with each. Thus, as depicted, it may be that the performance of task “g” within the type 2 task pod  2661   t   2 - b  is completed more quickly than the corresponding performances of task “g” within the others of the type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 - a  and  2661   t   2 - c.    
     Upon completion of the execution of the instance of the task routine  2440   g  to perform task “g” within the type 2 task pod  2661   t   2 - b , that task pod may output a task routine execution completion message  2434   tc - g   2  onto its corresponding individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind - b  to provide the one of the performance pods  2661   e  that is currently involved in controlling the performance of the job with an indication that the performance of task “g” with the data object block  2336   d   2  used as input has been completed. As depicted, the task completion message  2434   tc - g   2  may also include the data block identifier  2335  of the corresponding data object block  2376   d   2  that was generated from the data object block  2336   d   2  as a result of that now completed performance. 
     As previously discussed, it may be that each of the individual sub-queues  2669   t - ind  are instantiated and maintained for just long enough to enable the exchange of messages concerning the execution of a single task routine  2440  by its corresponding task pod  2661   t . In contrast, the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp  may be instantiated and maintained throughout the time during which the distributed processing system  2000  is used to perform job flows. In various embodiments, for each individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind , these instantiations and uninstantiations may be effected by the messaging routine  2414  within its corresponding task pod  2661   t . Thus, the performance pod  2661   e  that is currently involved in controlling the performance of the job flow might simply receive and de-queue the task completion message  2434   tc - g   2  from the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind - b , and the type 2 task pod  2661   t   2 - b  might respond to that de-queuing by uninstantiating the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind - b . The type 2 task pod  2661   t   2 - b  might then claim another requested task routine execution from among the task execution request messages  2434   et - g   4  through  2434   et - gx  still present on the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp.    
     However, as was previously discussed in reference to  FIGS.  24 A-D , data that is generated within a task pod as a result of executing a task routine, and that is output therefrom for being persistently stored within a federated area  2566  may be at least partially and temporarily buffered within the device  2500 / 2600  within which that task pod is instantiated. Again, it may well be that the federated area  2566  is maintained within an entirely different device  2600  than the one in which that task pod is instantiated, and such buffering may be performed to address the considerable time that may be required just to transfer that data between devices for persistent storage within that federated area  2566 . So, and as also previously discussed in reference to  FIGS.  24 A-D , it may be deemed desirable to take advantage of the speedier access to that data that may be enabled by such buffering by performing a next task that uses that same data as an input within that very same task pod. In this way, at least part of that data that is needed as an input to that next task is able to be retrieved much more quickly from such a buffer, instead of incurring what may be a significantly greater delay from having to retrieve it from the federated area  2566 . 
     Thus, as previously discussed in reference to at least  FIG.  24 D , and turning more specifically to  FIG.  27 L , the one of the performance pods  2661   e  that is currently involved in controlling the performance of the job flow may read the task completion message  2434   tc - g   2  that is output onto the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind - b , but without de-queuing that message from that sub-queue. Not de-queuing the task completion message  2434   tc - g   2  may serve as an indication to the type 2 task pod  2661   t   2 - b  that it is to refrain from claiming another task routine performance from a request message output onto the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp , and is instead, to await the receipt of a request message to execute another task routine that may be output onto the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind - b.    
     Turning more specifically to  FIG.  27 M , while continuing to refrain from de-queuing the task completion message  2434   tc - g   2 , the one of the performance pods  2661   e  that is currently involved in controlling the performance of the job flow may then, output a task routine execution request message  2434   et - h   2  onto the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind - b . This new request message  2434   et - h   2  may request that the type 2 task pod  2661   t   2 - b  now execute another task routine to perform task “h” using the data object block  2376   d   2  that was generated by the performance of task “g” within the type 2 task pod  2661   t   2 - b  as an input. Turning more specifically to  FIG.  27 N , the type 2 task pod  2661   t   2 - b  may then respond by de-queuing the request message  2434   et - h   2 , and outputting a task in-progress message  2434   tip - h   2  message onto the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind - b  to provide an indication that the requested execution of a task routine to perform task “h” is underway. This may be followed by the de-queuing of the task completion message  2434   tc - g   2 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  27 O , as depicted, a task routine  2440   h  may be retrieved from a federated area  2566  by the instance of the resolver routine  2413  within the type 2 task pod  2661   t   2 - b , and then executed within the task container  2565   t  thereof to perform task “h” as requested in the task routine execution request message  2434   et - h   2 . As a result, that instance of the resolver routine  2413  may use the data block identifier  2335  that was provided in the request message  2434   et - h   2  to request provision of the data object block  2376   d   2  from the federated area  2566  to which it was earlier output from the very same task pod  2661   t   2 - b  for being persistently stored. However, as previously discussed, at least a portion of the data object block  2376   d   2  may be retrieved more quickly from the buffering used within the device  2500 / 2600  in which the type 2 task pod  2661   t   2 - b  is instantiated. 
     In continuing to perform task “h” within the type 2 task pod  2661   t   2 - b , the depicted data object block  2776   d   2  of the distributed form  2770   d  of a result report  2770  of the job flow (see  FIG.  27 A ) may be generated therein, and then output for persistent storage within a federated area at a location indicated in the depicted result block identifier  2775  that is generated as part of effecting such persistent storage. In a manner similar to task “g”, task “h” may be any of a variety of types of task that entails the generation of the result report  2770 . 
     Again, as previously discussed, it may be that the performances of the very same task across multiple task pods may be completed within different periods of time. Thus, as depicted in  FIG.  27 O , it may be that the performances of task “g” may still be ongoing within each of the type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 - a  and  2661   t   2 - c , even as the performance of task “h” begins within the type 2 task pod  2661   t   2 - b . Indeed, it may also be that the performance of task “h” within the type 2 task pod  2661   t   2 - b  is actually completed before the completion of task “g” within either of those other two type 2 task pods. 
     Turning to  FIGS.  27 P and  27 Q , upon completion of the execution of the instance of the task routine  2440   g  to perform task “h” within the type 2 task pod  2661   t   2 - b , that task pod may output a task routine execution completion message  2434   tc - h   2  onto its corresponding individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind - b  to provide the one of the performance pods  2661   e  that is currently involved in controlling the performance of the job with an indication that the performance of task “h” with the data object block  2376   d   2  used as input has been completed. As depicted, the task completion message  2434   tc - h   2  may also include the result block identifier  2775  of the corresponding data object block  2776   d   2  that was generated from the data object block  2376   d   2  as a result of that now completed performance. 
     As previously discussed, in reference to  FIG.  27 A , this deliberately simplified example job flow used throughout  FIGS.  27 B-W  includes just four tasks, “f”, “g”, “h” and “i” that must be performed in sequential order as a result of their data dependencies, and task “i” may be a type 1 combining task in which multiple data object blocks  2776  of the distributed form  2770   d  of a result report  2770  are combined to generate the result report  2770  as a single undivided object. Thus, and turning more specifically to  FIG.  27 Q , in response to the outputting of the task completion message  2434   tc - h   2  onto the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind - b , the performance pod  2661   e  that is currently involved in controlling the performance of the job flow might de-queue the task completion message  2434   tc - h   2  from the individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind - b . Such de-queuing may serve to provide an indication to that task pod that it is permitted to “claim” another requested task routine execution from among the task execution request messages  2434   et - g   4  through  2434   et - gx  that are still present on the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp . In response, the type 2 task pod  2661   t   2 - b  may uninstantiate individual sub-queue  2669   t - ind - b , and as depicted, proceed with claiming the task routine execution that is requested in the task routine execution request message  2434   et - g   4  by de-queuing that request message from the group sub-queue  2669   t - grp.    
     Turning to  FIGS.  27 R,  27 S,  27 T and  27 U , following the completion of all of the performances of tasks “g” and “h” associated with all of the data object blocks  2336   d   1 - dx  of the distributed form  2330   d  of the flow input data set  2330 , the instance of the performance component  2544  that is currently involved in controlling the performance of the job flow may then cooperate with the instance of the messaging routine  2414  being executed within the corresponding messaging container  2565   m  to output a task routine execution request message  2434   et - f  that requests the execution of a task routine  2440  to effect the performance of task “i”. Since, task “i” is a type 1 task, the task routine execution request message  2434   et - f  for task “i” may be output onto the task queue  2669   t   1  so as to be conveyed to the type 1 task pods  2661   t   1 . 
     Turning more specifically to  FIG.  27 S , the contents of the task routine execution request message  2434   et - i  may include an indication that the execution of a task routine  2440  for the performance of task “i” is being requested, along with information needed to identify a task routine  2440  that is to be executed to do so. The task routine execution request message  2434   et - i  may also the job flow instance identifier  2701 , the task instance identifier  2704  that uniquely identifies this instance of performance of task “i”, and/or the federated area identifier(s)  2569  of the federated area(s)  2566  to which access is authorized to be searched for objects needed to perform the job flow. However, in support of the combining functionality of task “i”, the task routine execution request message  2434   et - i  may also include the result block identifiers  2775  for each of the data object blocks  2776  of the distributed form  2770   d  of the result report that were generated during the multiple performances of task “h”. 
     In addition to transmitting the task routine execution request message  2434   et - i  for task “i” on the type 1 task queue  2669   t   1 , and in a manner similar to what was described in reference to  FIG.  27 D , the same instance of the performance component  2544  that currently controls the performance of the job flow may also transmit a scaling message  2434   x - i  onto the scaling queue  2669   x  for receipt at the single scaling pod  2661   x . The scaling message  2434   x - i  may provide an indication of a need to increase the allocation of (or to at least forestall decreasing the allocation of) type 1 task pods  2661   t   1 . In so doing, the scaling message  2434   x - i  may also provide an indication of a need to decrease the allocation of type 2 task pods  2661   t   2  to make more processing and/or storage resources available within the distributed processing system  2000  for an increased quantity of type 1 task pods  2661   t   1 . 
     In a manner similar to the job flow performance request message  2434   pj , the task routine execution request message  2434   et - i  may be meant to be received by whichever one of the type 1 task pods  2661   t   1  happens to be available for use in executing a task routine  2440  for the performance of a type 1 task. Much of the rest of the protocol through the type 1 message queue  2669   t   1  that leads up to the performance of task “i” within the depicted available type task pod  2661   t   1  may proceed in a manner similar to what was previously discussed as leading to the performance of task “f”. As depicted, the request message  2434   et - i  may be de-queued and a corresponding task in-progress message  2434   tip - i  may be output onto the type1 task queue  2669   t   1 . 
     Turning more specifically to  FIG.  27 T , in executing the depicted task routine  2440   i  to cause the performance of task “i”, the result block identifiers  2775  that were provided in the task routine execution request message  2434   et - i  may be used to retrieve, from federated area(s), all of the data object blocks  2776   d   1 - dx  of the distributed form  2770   d  of the result report  2770 . Then, the undivided form of the result report  2770  may be generated therefrom, and then output from the type 1 task pod  2661   t   1  to a federated area  2566  for persistent storage. 
     Turning more specifically to  FIG.  27 U , upon completion of the execution of the task routine  2440   f  to perform task “i”, a task routine execution completion message  2434   tc - i  indicating such completion of execution may be output onto the type 1 task queue  2669   t   1 . Again, such the completion message  2434   tc - f  may be directed at whichever one of the instances of the performance component  2544  within one of the performance pods  2661   e  is the instance that is currently controlling the execution of task routines  2440  as part of effectuating the performance of the job flow. To enable this, the completion message  2434   tc - f  may include the job flow instance identifier  2701  and/or the task instance identifier  2704  for task “i”. 
     Turning to  FIG.  27 V , since task “i” is the last task of this deliberately simplified example job flow, the receipt of the completion message  2434   tc - i  may serve as the indication of completion of all tasks. Much of the rest of the protocol for the exchange of messages for the completion of the job flow may proceed in a manner similar to what was previously discussed in reference to at least  FIGS.  231  and  23 K -L. As depicted, this may include the instance of the performance component  2544  that is currently involved in controlling the performance of the job flow outputting a job flow performance completion message  2434   jc  onto the job queue  2669   j . Again, such a completion message  2434   jc  may be directed at whichever one of the instances of the portal component  2549  within one of the portal pods  2661   p  is the instance that is currently involved in the performance of the job flow. To enable this, the job flow performance completion message  2434   jc  may include the job flow instance identifier  2701 . 
     In some embodiments, in addition to transmitting the job flow performance completion message  2434   jc  on the job queue  2669   j , that same controlling instance of the performance component  2544  may also transmit another scaling message  2434   x  on the scaling queue  2669   x  for receipt at the single scaling pod  2661   x . This scaling message  2434   x  may provide an indication of a reduced need for the allocation of at least the type 1 task pods  2661   t   1 . 
     Turning to  FIG.  27 W , as previously discussed in reference to at least  FIGS.  25 A-B , there may circumstances that arise during execution of a task routine  2440  that result in repeated failed attempts to execute that task routine  2440  within the same task pod  2661   t . Among such circumstances may be an issue with the task pod  2661   t  such that moving the execution of that task routine  2440  to another task pod  2661   t  may address the issue (e.g., a situation in which a particular task pod is uninstantiated). 
     However, among such circumstances may be an issue with the task routine  2440 , itself (e.g., an error in the executable instructions that make up the task routine  2440 ). Under such circumstances, it may simply not be possible to execute the task routine  2440  without a failure being the result such that it may not be possible to fully perform a job flow that relies on the execution that task routine  2440 . 
     As was discussed in reference to at least  FIGS.  25 A-B , the kill routine  2645  within a kill pod  2661   k  may receive messages  2434   ts  via the task kill queue  2669   tk  that indicate the status of each task pod  2661   t  as each executes a task routine  2440 . Each such message  2434   ts  may include an identifier of the task routine  2440  being executed by a task pod  2661   t , indications of the consumption of resources associated with that execution, indications of an amount of time that has so far elapsed during that execution, and/or indications of error(s) associated with that execution. The kill routine  2645  may use such information to track a quantity of times the execution of each task routine  2440  has been attempted and resulted in failure, instances where level(s) of resource consumed for the execution of a task routine  2440  has exceed one or more thresholds, and/or whether the amount of time that has elapsed for the execution of a task routine  2440  has reached a threshold maximum amount of time. Where the kill routine  2645  determines that a quantity of failed attempts, a level of resource consumption, and/or an amount of elapsed time for execution of a particular task routine  2440  within a particular task container  2661   t  has exceeded one or more pre-selected threshold, then a task kill message  2434   kt  may be transmitted through the task kill queue  2669   tk  to that task pod  2661   t  to order the cessation of any further attempt to execute that task routine  2440 . In response, that task pod  2661   t , in addition to ceasing any further attempt to execute that task routine  2440 , may transmit a task killed message  2434   tk  to the performance pod  2661   e  that is currently controlling the performance of the job flow to provide an indication that execution of the task routine  2440  has ended with failure, and that instructions have been received to make no further attempt to execute it. In response, that performance pod  2661   e  may take action to cease the performance of that job flow. 
     Turning more specifically to  FIG.  27 W , in embodiments in which multiple instances of a particular task routine  2440  are being executed at least partially in parallel across multiple task pods  2661   t  (e.g., either of task “g” or task “h” across the multiple type 2 task pods  2661   t   2 - a  through  2661   t   2 - c ), it may be deemed desirable for the kill routine  2645  to base a determination of whether or not to continue attempts to execute that particular task routine  2440  on what is observed in attempts to execute multiple ones of those multiple instances. More specifically, it may be that the tracking of failed attempts to execute a particular task routine  2440  includes all failed attempts to execute all instances of that particular task routine  2440  across multiple task pods  2661   t , and/or the tracking of instances of exceeding a level of resource consumption and/or exceed an amount of execution time includes all of such instances that occur among all of that particular task routine  2440  across multiple task pods  2661   t.    
     In this way, where a particular task routine  2440  is unable to be successfully executed, a determination that this is case may be arrived at more quickly, and a job flow that relies on executing that task routine  2440  may be canceled more quickly such that fewer resources are consumed in performing it. Alternatively or additionally, in this way, where a particular task pod  2661   t  may be subject to conditions that cause one instance of a particular task routine  2440  to repeatedly fail within it, while such failures do not occur with other instances of that particular task routine  2440  within other task pods  2661   t , a determination may be made that the task routine  2440  is not, itself, subject to an error condition, rather than allowing a built up quantity of failed attempted execution within that one task pod  2661   t  to lead to a determination otherwise. 
       FIGS.  28 A and  28 B , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow  3100 . The logic flow  3100  may be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments described herein. More specifically, the logic flow  3100  may illustrate operations performed by the processor(s)  2550  in executing the control routine  2540 , and/or performed by other component(s) of at least one of the federated devices  2500 . 
     At  3110 , a processor of a federated device of a distributed processing system (e.g., at least one processor  2550  of one of the federated devices  2500  of the distributed processing system  2000 ) may receive a request from a device, via a network (e.g., one of the source devices  2100 , or one of the reviewing devices  2800 , via the network  2999 ) and through a portal provided by the processor for access to other devices via the network, to add a new federated area to be connected to a specified existing federated area. As has been discussed, such a portal may employ any of a variety of protocols and/or handshake mechanisms to enable the receipt of requests for various forms of access to the federated area by other devices, as well as to exchange objects with other devices, via the network. 
     At  3112 , in embodiments in which the federated device(s) that provide federated area(s) also control access thereto, the processor may perform a check of whether the request is from an authorized device and/or from an authorized person or entity (e.g., scholastic, governmental or business entity) operating the device that is an authorized user of the specified federated area (as well as for any related base federated area and/or any related intervening federated area), and/or has been granted a level of access that includes the authorization to make such requests. Again, the processor may require the receipt of one or more security credentials from devices and/or users from which such requests are received. If, at  3112 , the processor determines that the request is not from an authorized device and/or is not from a person and/or entity authorized as a user with sufficient access to make such a request, then the processor may transmit an indication of denial of the request to the device from which the request is received via the network at  3114 . 
     However, if at  3112 , the processor determines that the request is authorized, then at  3120 , the processor may allocate storage space within the one or more federated devices, and/or within one or more storage devices under the control of the one or more federated devices, for the requested new federated area that is connected to (e.g., branches from) the specified existing federated area. 
     At  3130 , the processor may generate a new global federated area identifier (GUID) that is to be used to uniquely identify the new federated area (e.g., a new global federated area identifier  2569 ). At  3132 , the processor may add an indication of the creation of the requested new federate area, as well as the manner in which the requested new federated area is connected to the specified existing federated area to a federated area database that may store indications of the existence of each federated area, which users and/or devices are granted access to each, and/or how each federated area may be connected or otherwise related to one or more others (e.g., within the portal data  2539  and/or the federated area parameters  2536 ). In so doing, the new federated area, the specified existing federated area and/or other federated areas may be identified and referred to within such databases by their global federated area identifiers and/or human-readable federated area identifiers (e.g., the human-readable federated area identifiers  2568 ), with the global federated area identifiers serving to resolve any conflict that may arise among the human-readable federated area identifiers). 
     At  3134 , the processor may add an indication to such a database of an inheritance relationship among the new federated area, the specified existing federated area, any base federated area to which the specified existing federated area is related, and any intervening federated area present between the specified existing federated area and the base federated area. As has been discussed, with such an inheritance relationship in place, any object stored within any base federated area to which the specified existing federated area may be related, within the specified existing federated, and/or within any intervening federated area that may be present between the specified existing federated area and such a base federated area may become accessible from within the new federated area as if stored within the new federated area. 
     At  3136 , the processor may add an indication to such a database of a priority relationship among the new federated area, the specified existing federated area, any base federated area to which the specified existing federated area is related, and any intervening federated area present between the specified existing federated area and the base federated area. As has been discussed, with such a priority relationship in place, the use of objects stored within the new federated area is given priority over the use of similar objects (e.g., other task routines  2440  that perform the same task) that may be stored within any base federated area to which the specified existing federated area may be related, within the specified existing federated, and/or within any intervening federated area that may be present between the specified existing federated area and such a base federated area. 
     At  3140 , the processor may check whether there is at least one other existing federated area that is connected to the requested new federated area within a set of related federated areas such that it is to have at least an inheritance relationship with the requested new federated area such that it is to inherit objects from the requested new federated area. As has been discussed, this may occur where the requested new federated area is requested to be instantiated at a position within a linear hierarchy or within a branch of a hierarchical tree such that it is interposed between two existing federated areas. 
     If, at  3140 , there is such another federated area, then at  3142 , the processor may add an indication to such a database of an inheritance relationship among the other existing federated area, the requested new federated area, the specified existing federated area, any base federated area to which the specified existing federated area and the other federated area are related, and any intervening federated area present between the specified existing federated area and the base federated area. In this way, any object stored within any base federated area, within the specified existing federated, within any intervening federated area that may be present between the specified existing federated area and such a base federated area, or within the requested new federated area may become accessible from within the other existing federated area as if stored within the other existing federated area. 
     At  3144 , the processor may add an indication to such a database of a priority relationship among the other existing federated area, the requested new federated area, the specified existing federated area, any base federated area to which the specified existing federated area is related, and any intervening federated area present between the specified existing federated area and the base federated area. In this way, the use of objects stored within the other existing federated area is given priority over the use of similar objects (e.g., other task routines  2440  that perform the same task) that may be stored within the requested new federated area, any base federated area to which the specified existing federated area may be related, within the specified existing federated, and/or within any intervening federated area that may be present between the specified existing federated area and such a base federated area. 
       FIGS.  29 A,  29 B,  29 C,  29 D,  29 E,  29 F and  29 G , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow  3200 . The logic flow  3200  may be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments described herein. More specifically, the logic flow  3200  may illustrate operations performed by the processor(s)  2550  in executing the control routine  2540 , and/or performed by other component(s) of at least one of the federated devices  2500 . 
     At  3210 , a processor of a federated device of a distributed processing system (e.g., at least one processor  2550  of one of the federated devices  2500  of the distributed processing system  2000 ) may receive a request from another device, via a network (e.g., one of the source devices  2100 , or one of the reviewing devices  2800 , via the network  2999 ) and through a portal provided by the processor for access to other devices via the network, to store one or more objects (e.g., one or more of the objects  2220 ,  2270 ,  2330 ,  2370 ,  2440 ,  2470 ,  2720  and/or  2770 ) within a specified federated area (e.g., one of the federated areas  2566 ). As has been discussed, such a portal may employ any of a variety of protocols and/or handshake mechanisms to enable the receipt of requests for various forms of access to a federated area by other devices, as well as to exchange objects with other devices, via the network. Alternatively, at  3310 , the processor may receive the one or more objects, via the network, and in a transfer associated with a synchronization relationship between a transfer area instantiated within the particular federated area and another transfer area instantiated within the other device, where the one or more objects are intended to be stored within the transfer area within the particular federated area. 
     At  3212 , in embodiments in which the federated device(s) that provide federated area(s) also control access thereto, the processor may perform a check of whether the request is from an authorized device and/or from an authorized person or entity (e.g., scholastic, governmental or business entity) operating the other device that is an authorized user of the specified federated area, and/or has been granted a level of access that includes the authorization to make such requests. As has been discussed, the processor may require the receipt of one or more security credentials from devices from which requests are received. If, at  3212 , the processor determines that the request is not from a device and/or user authorized to make such a request, then the processor may transmit an indication of denial of the request to the device via the network at  3214 . 
     However, if at  3212 , the processor determines that the request to store one or more objects within the specified federated area is authorized, then at  3220 , the processor may check whether the one or more objects includes one or more data sets (e.g., one or more of the flow input data sets  2330  and/or one or more mid-flow data sets  2370 ). If so, then the processor may generate and assign a data object identifier for each data set that is to be stored (e.g., one or more of the data object identifiers  3331 ) at  3222 . At  3224 , the processor may store each of the one or more data sets within the specified federated area. At  3226 , the processor may also store indications of aspects of the storage of each such data set (e.g., its size, whether stored as an undivided object or in a distributed manner, whether stored in distributable form (if applicable), the identity of the federated area in which it is stored and/or the identity of each device in which at least a portion of it is stored). As has been discussed, in some embodiments, such information may be stored as part of a separate data object location identifier (e.g., a data object location identifier  2332  or  2372 ) for each such data set. 
     At  3230 , the processor may check whether the one or more objects includes one or more result reports (e.g., one or more of the result reports  2770 ). If so, then the processor may generate and assign a result report identifier for each result report that is to be stored (e.g., one or more of the result report identifiers  2771 ) at  3232 . At  3234 , the processor may store each of the one or more result reports within the specified federated area. At  3236 , the processor may also store indications of aspects of the storage of each such result report. As has also been discussed in reference to result reports, in some embodiments, such information may be stored as part of a separate result report location identifier (e.g., a result report location identifier  2772 ) for each such result report. 
     At  3240 , the processor may check whether the one or more objects includes one or more task routines (e.g., one or more of the task routines  2440 ). If so, then the processor may generate and assign a task routine identifier for each task routine that is to be stored (e.g., one or more of the task routine identifiers  2441 ) at  3242 . At  3244 , the processor may store each of the one or more task routines within the specified federated area. At  3246 , the processor may additionally check whether any of the task routines stored at  3244  have the same flow task identifier as another task routine that was already stored within the specified federated area (or within any base federated area to which the specified federated area is related and/or within any intervening federated area interposed therebetween), such that there is more than one task routine executable to perform the same task. If so, then at  3248  for each newly stored task routine that shares a flow task identifier with at least one other task routine already stored in the specified federated area (or within such a base or intervening federated area), the processor may store an indication of there being multiple task routines with the same flow task identifier, along with an indication of which is the most recent of the task routines for that flow task identifier. 
     As has been discussed, in embodiments in which task routines are stored in a manner organized into a database or other data structure (e.g., the task routine database  2564  within one or more related federated areas) by which flow task identifiers may be employed as a mechanism to locate task routines, the storage of an indication of there being more than one task routine sharing the same flow task identifier may entail associating more than one task routine with the same flow task identifier so that a subsequent search for task routines using that flow task identifier will beget a result indicating that there is more than one. As has also been discussed, the manner in which one of multiple task routines sharing the same flow task identifier may be indicated as being the most current version may entail ordering the manner in which those task routines are listed within the database (or other data structure) to cause the most current one to be listed at a particular position within that order (e.g., listed first). 
     At  3250 , the processor may check whether the one or more objects includes one or more macros (e.g., one or more of the macros  2470 ). If so, then at  3252 , the processor may additionally check, for each macro, whether there is a corresponding task routine (or corresponding multiple versions of a task routine in embodiments in which a single macro may be based on multiple versions) stored within the specified federated area (or within any base federated area to which the specified federated area is related and/or within any intervening federated area interposed therebetween). If, at  3252 , there are any macros requested to be stored for which there is a corresponding task routine (or corresponding multiple versions of a task routine) stored in the specified federated area (or within such a base or intervening federated area), then for each such macro, the processor may assign the job flow identifier (e.g., one or more of the job flow identifiers  2221 ) of the corresponding task routine (or may assign job flow identifiers of each of the versions of a task routine) at  3254 . At  3256 , the processor may store each of such macros. 
     At  3260 , the processor may check whether the one or more objects includes one or more job flow definitions (e.g., one or more of the job flow definitions  2220 ). If so, then at  3262 , the processor may additionally check, for each job flow definition, whether that job flow definition defines a job flow that uses a neural network and was trained and/or tested using objects associated with another job flow (and/or performances thereof) that is defined to by its job flow definition to not use a neural network. As previously discussed, the preservation of such links between a neuromorphic job flow and an earlier non-neuromorphic job flow from which the neuromorphic job flow may be in some way derived may be of importance to ensuring accountability during a later evaluation of the neuromorphic job flow. For this reason, it may be deemed important to ensure that objects associated with the other non-neuromorphic job flow have already been stored in federated area(s) where they can be preserved for subsequent retrieval during such an evaluation of the neuromorphic job flow. 
     Presuming that there are no neuromorphic job flows requested to be stored that were derived from another non-neuromorphic job flow that is not already so stored, then at  3264 , the processor may additionally check, for each job flow definition, whether there is at least one task routine stored within the specified federated area (or within any base federated area to which the specified federated area is related and/or within any intervening federated area interposed therebetween) for each task specified by a flow task identifier within the job flow definition. If, at  3264 , there are any job flow definitions requested to be stored for which there is at least one task routine stored in the specified federated area (or within such a base or intervening federated area) for each task, then for each of those job flow definitions where there is at least one stored task routine for each task, the processor may generate and assign a job flow identifier (e.g., one or more of the job flow identifiers  2221 ) at  3267 , and at  3269 , may then store each of the one or more job flow definitions for which there was at least one task routine for each task. Otherwise, at  3265 , for each job flow for which there is no task routine stored for one or more tasks, the processor may generate a DAG (e.g., one of the DAGs  2270 ) that provides a visual indication of the lack of task routines for each such task, and may transmit the DAG to the other device. 
     At  3270 , the processor may check whether the one or more objects includes one or more instance logs (e.g., one or more of the instance logs  2720 ). If so, then at  3272 , the processor may additionally check, for each instance log, whether each object identified in the instance log by its identifier is stored within the specified federated area (or within any base federated area to which the specified federated area is related and/or within any intervening federated area interposed therebetween). If, at  3272 , there are any instance logs requested to be stored for which each specified object is stored within the specified federated area (or within such a base or intervening federated area), then for each instance log where each object specified therein is so stored, the processor may generate and assign an instance log identifier (e.g., one or more of the instance log identifiers  2721 ) at  3275 , and at  3277 , may then store each of the one or more instance logs for which each specified object is so stored. Otherwise, at  3273 , for each instance log for which there is an identified object that is not stored, the processor may generate a DAG that provides a visual indication of each such missing object, and may transmit the DAG to the other device. 
     At  3280 , the processor may check whether the one or more objects includes one or DAGs. If so, then at  3282 , the processor may additionally check, for each DAG, whether there is a corresponding task routine (or corresponding multiple versions of a task routine) for each task graph object (e.g., one of the task graph objects  2984 ) and whether there is a corresponding data object for each data graph object (e.g., each data graph object  2983  or  2987 ) stored within the specified federated area (or within any base federated area to which the specified federated area is related and/or within any intervening federated area interposed therebetween). If, at  3282 , there are any of such DAGs to be stored in the specified federated area (or within such a base or intervening federated area) for which all of such task routines and data objects are so stored, then for each of such DAG, the processor may generate and assign a job flow identifier at  3285  in recognition of the possibility that such a DAG may be used as a new job flow definition, and at  3286 , may then store each of such DAGs. Otherwise, at  3265 , for each job flow for which there is no task routine stored for one or more tasks, the processor may generate a DAG (e.g., one of the DAGs  2270 ) that provides a visual indication of the lack of task routines for each such task, and may transmit the DAG to the other device. Otherwise, at  3283 , for each DAG for which there is a task routine and/or a data object that is not stored, the processor may generate another DAG that provides a visual indication of each such missing object, and may transmit the other DAG to the other device. 
       FIGS.  30 A,  30 B and  30 C , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow  3300 . The logic flow  3300  may be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments described herein. More specifically, the logic flow  3300  may illustrate operations performed by the processor(s)  2550  in executing the control routine  2540 , and/or performed by other component(s) of at least one of the federated devices  2500 . 
     At  3310 , a processor of a federated device of a distributed processing system (e.g., at least one processor  2550  of one of the federated devices  2500  of the distributed processing system  2000 ) may receive a request from a device, via a network (e.g., one of the source devices  2100 , or one of the reviewing devices  2800 , via the network  2999 ) and through a portal provided by the processor for access to other devices via the network, to store a task routine (e.g., one of the task routines  2440 ) within a particular federated area specified in the request (e.g., one of the federated areas  2566 ). Again, such a portal may be generated by the processor to employ any of a variety of protocols and/or handshake mechanisms to enable the receipt of requests for various forms of access to the federated area by other devices, as well as to exchange objects with other devices, via the network. Alternatively, at  3310 , the processor may receive the task routine, via the network, and in a transfer associated with a synchronization relationship between a transfer area instantiated within the particular federated area and another transfer area instantiated within the other device, where the task routine is intended to be stored within the transfer area within the particular federated area. 
     At  3312 , in embodiments in which the federated device(s) that provide federated area(s) also control access thereto, the processor may perform a check of whether the request or synchronization relationship transfer is from an authorized device and/or from an authorized person or entity (e.g., scholastic, governmental or business entity) operating the device that is an authorized user of the specified federated area. As has been discussed, the processor may require the receipt of one or more security credentials from devices from which requests are received and/or with which transfers of objects associated with synchronization relationships are performed. If, at  3312 , the processor determines that there is no such authorization, then the processor may transmit an indication of denial of the storage of the task routine to the other device via the network at  3314 . 
     However, if at  3312 , the processor determines that there is such authorization, then at  3320 , the processor may check whether the task routine has the same flow task identifier as any of the task routines already stored within the particular federated area (or within any base federated area to which the specified federated area is related and/or within any intervening federated area interposed therebetween), such that there is already stored one or more other task routines executable to perform the same task. If not at  3320 , then the processor may generate and assign a task routine identifier for the task routine (e.g., one of the task routine identifiers  2441 ) at  3322 . At  3324 , the processor may store the task routine within the particular federated area in a manner that enables later retrieval of the task routine by either its identifier or by the flow task identifier of the task that it performs. 
     However, if at  3320 , there is at least one other task routine with the same flow task identifier already stored within the particular federated area (or within such a base or intervening federated area), then at  3330 , the processor may translate the portions of executable instructions within each of these task routines that implement the input and/or output interfaces to generate intermediate representation(s) of the input and/or output interfaces for each of these task routines. As has been discussed, it may be that different ones of these task routines are written in different programming languages, which may make direct comparisons of implementations of input and/or output interfaces relatively difficult, and it may be that the intermediate representations generated for each include executable instructions generated in an intermediate programming language to better facilitate such direct comparisons. Alternatively or additionally, the intermediate representations may include a data structure of various values for various parameters of input and/or output interfaces that better enable such direct comparisons. At  3332 , the processor may perform such comparisons using the intermediate representations. 
     Based on the results of those comparisons, the processor may check at  3340 : 1) whether the input interfaces (e.g., data interfaces  2443  that receive data from data objects, and/or task interfaces  2444  that receive parameters from another task routine) are implemented in the task routine in a manner that is identical to those of the one or more other task routines with the same flow task identifier that are already so stored, and 2) whether the output interfaces (e.g., data interfaces  2443  that output a data object, and/or task interfaces  2444  that output parameters to another task routine) are implemented in the task routine in a manner that is either identical to or a superset of those of the one or more task routines with the same flow task identifier that are already stored within the federated area (or within such a base or intervening federated area). If at  3340 , the input interfaces are identical, and each of the output interfaces of the task routine is identical to or a superset of the corresponding output interface within the one or more other task routine(s) already stored within the federated area (or within such a base or intervening federated area), then the processor may generate and assign a task routine identifier for the task routine at  3350 . At  3352 , the processor may store the task routine within the specified federated area in a manner that enables later retrieval of the task routine by either its identifier or by the flow task identifier of the task that it performs. At  3354 , the processor may also store an indication of there being multiple task routines with the same flow task identifier, along with an indication of which is the most recent of the task routines for that flow task identifier. 
     However, if at  3340 , the input interfaces are not identical, or the output interface(s) of the task routine are neither identical nor a superset, then at  3342 , the processor may generate a DAG (e.g., one of the DAGs  2270 ) that provides a visual indication of the mismatch, and may transmit the DAG to the other device. If, at  3344 , the task routine was received in a transfer from the other device as a result of a synchronization relationship, then the processor may proceed with the assignment of a task routine identifier at  3350 , followed by storage of the task routine, etc. As has been discussed, proceeding with the storage of the task routine in spite of such a mismatch in implementations of input and/or output interfaces may be deemed desirable as it results in the synchronization relationship between the two transfer areas being maintained such that the contents of the two transfer areas are caused to be synchronized with each other. It may be deemed sufficient that the DAG providing a visualization of the details of the mismatch is generated and provided to the other device as a mechanism to notify the developer(s) who created the task routine so that they are able to correct it. 
       FIGS.  31 A,  31 B and  31 C , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow  3400 . The logic flow  3400  may be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments described herein. More specifically, the logic flow  3400  may illustrate operations performed by the processor(s)  2550  in executing the control routine  2540 , and/or performed by other component(s) of at least one of the federated devices  2500 . 
     At  3410 , a processor of a federated device of a distributed processing system (e.g., at least one processor  2550  of one of the federated devices  2500  of the distributed processing system  2000 ) may receive a request from another device, via a network (e.g., one of the source devices  2100 , or one of the reviewing devices  2800 , via the network  2999 ) and through a portal provided by the processor for access to other devices via the network, to store a job flow definition (e.g., one of the job flow definitions  2220 ) within a particular federated area specified within the request (e.g., one of the federated areas  2566 ). Alternatively, at  3410 , the processor may receive the job flow definition, via the network, and in a transfer associated with a synchronization relationship between a transfer area instantiated within the particular federated area and another transfer area instantiated within the other device, where the job flow definition is intended to be stored within the transfer area within the particular federated area. 
     At  3412 , in embodiments in which the federated device(s) that provide federated area(s) also control access thereto, the processor may perform a check of whether the request is from an authorized device and/or from an authorized person or entity (e.g., scholastic, governmental or business entity) operating the device that is an authorized user of the specified federated area, and/or has been granted a level of access that includes the authorization to make such requests. As has been discussed, the processor may require the receipt of one or more security credentials from devices from which requests are received. If, at  3412 , the processor determines that the request is not from a device and/or user authorized to make such a request, then the processor may transmit an indication of denial of the storage of the job flow definition to the device via the network at  3414 . 
     However, if at  3412 , the processor determines that the request to store a job flow definition within the specified federated area is authorized, then at  3420 , the processor may check whether the job flow of the job flow definition uses a neural network that was trained based on another job flow that does not use a neural network. If, at  3420 , the processor determines that the job flow of the job flow definition does not use a neural network, or if at  3422 , the processor determines that the other job flow definition is stored in the particular federated area (or within any base federated area to which the particular federated area is related and/or within any intervening federated area interposed therebetween), then at  3430 , the processor may check whether there is at least one task routine stored within the federated area (or within any such base or such intervening federated area) for each task specified by a flow task identifier within the job flow definition. 
     However, if at  3420 , the processor determines that the job flow of the job flow definition does use a neural network, and if at  3422 , the other job flow definition is not so stored, then at  3424 , the processor may check whether the job flow definition was received in a transfer from the other device as a result of a synchronization relationship. If not then, the processor may transmit an indication of denial of the storage of the job flow definition to the other device via the network at  3414 . Otherwise, the processor may transmit an indication of an error arising from the other job flow definition not being so stored at  3426 , before proceeding to the check made at  3430 . 
     If, at  3430 , there is at one task routine stored in the particular federated area (or within any base federated area to which the particular federated area is related and/or within any intervening federated area interposed therebetween) for each of the tasks specified by the job flow, then the processor may proceed to another check made at  3440 . However, if at  3430 , there are no task routines stored within the federated area (or within such a base or intervening federated area) for one or more of the tasks specified by the job flow, then at  3432 , the processor may generate a DAG that provides a visual depiction of the lack of task routines for one or more tasks, and may transmit it to the other device. Then, if at  3434 , the job flow definition was received in a transfer from the other device as a result of a synchronization relationship, the processor may proceed to the check made at  3440 . 
     At  3440 , the processor may check: 1) whether the input interfaces (e.g., data interfaces  2443  that receive data from data objects, and/or task interfaces  2444  that receive parameters from another task routine) that are implemented in the task routines stored in the federated area (or within such a base or intervening federated area) are identical to those specified in the job flow definition at  3440 , and 2) whether the output interfaces (e.g., data interfaces  2443  that output a data object, and/or task interfaces  2444  that output parameters to another task routine) that are implemented in the task routines that are already stored within the federated area (or within such a base or intervening federated area) are identical to or are supersets of those specified in the job flow definition. 
     If at  3440 , the input interfaces are identical, and if all of the output interfaces of all of the task routines already so stored are either identical to and/or are supersets of corresponding output interfaces specified in the job flow definitions, then the processor may generate and assign a job flow identifier for the job flow definition at  3446 , and at  3448 , may store the job flow definition within the particular federated area in a manner that enables later retrieval of the job flow by its identifier. 
     However, if at  3340 , the input interfaces are not identical, or if an output interface of one or more of the task routines already so stored is neither identical nor a superset of a corresponding output interface specified in the job flow definition, then at  3442 , the processor may generate a DAG that provides a visual indication of the mismatch, and may transmit it to the other device via the network. If, at  3444 , the job flow definition was received in a transfer from the other device as a result of a synchronization relationship, the processor may proceed to the generation and transmission of a DAG at  3446 . 
       FIGS.  32 A,  32 B,  32 C and  32 D , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow  3500 . The logic flow  3500  may be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments described herein. More specifically, the logic flow  3500  may illustrate operations performed by the processor(s)  2550  in executing the control routine  2540 , and/or performed by other component(s) of at least one of the federated devices  2500 . 
     At  3510 , a processor of a federated device of a distributed processing system (e.g., at least one processor  2550  of one of the federated devices  2500  of the distributed processing system  2000 ) may receive a request from a device, via a network (e.g., one of the source devices  2100 , or one of the reviewing devices  2800 , via the network  2999 ) and through a portal provided by the processor, to delete one or more objects (e.g., one or more of the objects  2220 ,  2330 ,  2370 ,  2440 ,  2720  and/or  2770 ) within a particular federated area specified in the request (e.g., one of the federated areas  2566 ). 
     At  3512 , in embodiments in which the federated device(s) that provide federated area(s) also control access thereto, the processor may perform a check of whether the request is from an authorized device and/or from an authorized person or entity (e.g., scholastic, governmental or business entity) operating the device that is an authorized user of the specified federated area, as well as any federated area that may branch from the specified federated area, and/or has been granted a level of access that includes the authorization to make such requests. As has been discussed, the processor may require the receipt of one or more security credentials from devices from which requests are received. If, at  3512 , the processor determines that the request is not from a device and/or user authorized to make such a request, then the processor may transmit an indication of denial of the request to the device via the network at  3514 . 
     However, if at  3512 , the processor determines that the request to delete one or more objects within the specified federated area is authorized, then at  3520 , the processor may check whether the one or more objects includes one or more data sets (e.g., one or more of the data sets  2330  or  2370 ). If so, then the processor may delete the one or more data sets from the specified federated area at  3522 . At  3524 , the processor may additionally check whether there are any result reports or instance logs stored in the specified federated area (or within any federated area that branches from the specified federated area) that were generated in a past performance of a job flow in which any of the one or more deleted data sets were used. If so, then at  3526 , the processor may delete such result report(s) and/or instance log(s) from the specified federated area and/or from one or more other federated areas that branch from the specified federated area. 
     As previously discussed, it may be deemed desirable for reasons of maintaining repeatability to avoid a situation in which there is an instance log that specifies one or more objects, such as data sets, as being associated with a performance of a job flow where the one or more objects are not present within any accessible federated area such that the performance of the job flow cannot be repeated. It is for this reason that the deletion of a data set from the specified federated area is only to be performed if a check can be made within federated areas that branch from the specified federated area for such objects as instance logs and/or result reports that have such a dependency on the data set to be deleted. And, it is for this reason that a request for such a deletion may not be deemed to be authorized unless received from a device and/or user that has authorization to access all of the federated areas that branch from the specified federated area. 
     At  3530 , the processor may check whether the one or more objects includes one or more result reports (e.g., one or more of the result reports  2770 ). If so, then the processor may delete the one or more result reports from the specified federated area at  3532 . At  3534 , the processor may additionally check whether there are any instance logs stored in the specified federated area (or within any federated area that branches from the specified federated area) that were generated in a past performance of a job flow in which any of the one or more deleted result reports were generated. If so, then at  3536 , the processor may delete such instance log(s) from the federated area and/or from the one or more other federated areas that branch from the specified federated area. 
     At  3540 , the processor may check whether the one or more objects includes one or more task routines (e.g., one or more of the task routines  2440 ). If so, then the processor may delete the one or more task routines from the specified federated area at  3542 . At  3544 , the processor may additionally check whether there are any other task routines stored in the specified federated area (or within a federated area that branches from the specified federated area) that share the same flow task identifier(s) as any of the deleted task routines. If so, then at  3546 , the processor may delete such task routine(s) from the specified federated area and/or from the one or more other federated areas that branch from the specified federated area. At  3550 , the processor may additionally check whether there are any result reports or instance logs stored in the specified federated area (or within a federated area that branches from the specified federated area) that were generated in a past performance of a job flow in which any of the one or more deleted task routines were used. If so, then at  3552 , the processor may delete such result report(s) and/or instance log(s) from the specified federated area and/or from the one or more other federated areas that branch from the specified federated area. 
     At  3560 , the processor may check whether the one or more objects includes one or more job flow definitions (e.g., one or more of the job flow definitions  2220 ). If so, then at  3562 , the processor may delete the one or more job flow definitions within the specified federated area. At  3564 , the processor may additionally check whether there are any result reports or instance logs stored in the specified federated area (or within a federated area that branches from the specified federated area) that were generated in a past performance of a job flow defined by any of the one or more deleted job flow definitions. If so, then at  3566 , the processor may delete such result report(s) and/or instance log(s) from the federated area and/or from the one or more other federated areas that branch from the specified federated area. 
     At  3570 , the processor may check whether the one or more objects includes one or more instance logs (e.g., one or more of the instance logs  2720 ). If so, then at  3572 , the processor may delete the one or more instance logs from the specified federated area. 
       FIGS.  33 A and  33 B , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow  3600 . 
     The logic flow  3600  may be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments described herein. More specifically, the logic flow  3600  may illustrate operations performed by the processor(s)  2550  in executing the control routine  2540 , and/or performed by other component(s) of at least one of the federated devices  2500 . 
     At  3610 , a processor of a federated device of a distributed processing system (e.g., at least one processor  2550  of one of the federated devices  2500  of the distributed processing system  2000 ) may receive a request from a device, via a network (e.g., one of the reviewing devices  2800  via the network  2999 ) and through a portal provided by the processor, to repeat a previous performance of a job flow that generated either a result report or an instance log (e.g., one of the result reports  2770  or one of the instance logs  2720 ) specified in the request (e.g., with a result report identifier  2771  or an instance log identifier  2721 ), or to provide the requesting device with the objects (e.g., one or more of the objects  2220 ,  2330 ,  2370 ,  2440 ,  2720  and/or  2770 ) needed to enable the requesting device to do so. As previously discussed, persons and/or entities involved in peer reviewing and/or other forms of review of analyses may operate a device to make a request for one or more federated devices to repeat a performance of a job flow to verify an earlier performance, or may make a request for the objects needed to allow the persons and/or entities to independently repeat the performance. 
     At  3612 , in embodiments in which the federated device(s) that provide federated area(s) also control access thereto, the processor may perform a check of whether the request is from an authorized device and/or from an authorized person or entity (e.g., scholastic, governmental or business entity) operating the device that is an authorized user of at least one federated area, and/or has been granted a level of access that includes the authorization to make such requests. As has been discussed, the processor may require the receipt of one or more security credentials from devices from which requests are received. If, at  3612 , the processor determines that the request is not from a device and/or user authorized to make such a request, then the processor may transmit an indication of denial of the request to the requesting device via the network at  3614 . 
     However, if at  3612 , the processor determines that the request is authorized, then at  3620 , if the a result report was specified for the previous performance in the request, instead of the instance log, then at  3622 , the processor may the use the result report identifier provided in the request for the result report to retrieve the instance log for the previous performance. Alternatively, if the instance log was specified for the previous performance in the request, then at  3624 , the processor may use the instance log identifier provided in the request to retrieve the instance log for the previous performance. 
     At  3630 , regardless of the exact manner in which the instance log is retrieved, the processor may use the identifiers specified in the instance log for the objects associated with the previous performance to retrieve each of those objects. It should be noted that, as has been previously discussed, searches for objects to fulfill such a request received from a particular requesting device may be limited to the one or more federated areas to which that particular requesting device and/or a user operating the requesting device has been granted access (e.g., a particular private or intervening federated area, as well as any base federated area and/or any other intervening federated area interposed therebetween). Therefore, the retrieval of objects used in the previous performance, and therefore, needed again to independently regenerate the result report, may necessarily be limited to such authorized federated area(s). 
     At  3632 , the processor may check whether the job flow relies on the use of a neural network that was trained using one or more performances of another job flow that does not relay on the use of a neural network. If so, then at  3634 , the processor may use an identifier in either of the job flow definition or instance log retrieved for the previous performance that provides a link to the job flow definition or instance log of the other job flow to retrieve objects associated with the other job flow and/or one or more performances of the other job flow. 
     Regardless of whether the job flow of the previous performance referred to in the request relies on the use of a neural network, if, at  3640 , the request was to provide the objects needed to enable an independent repeat of the previous performance of the job flow referred to in the request, then at  3642 , the processor may transmit the retrieved objects associated with that previous performance to the requesting device to so enable such an independent repeat performance. As previously discussed, the regenerated result report may be compared at the requesting device to the result report that was previously generated during the previous performance to verify one or more aspects of the previous performance. However, if at  3640 , the request received was not to so provide the retrieved objects, but instead, was for one or more federated devices to repeat the previous performance of the job flow, then at  3650 , the processor may employ the objects retrieved at  3630  to repeat the previous performance, and thereby regenerate the result report. As previously discussed, in some embodiments, including embodiments in which one or more of the data sets associated with the previous performance is relatively large in size, the processor of the federated device may cooperate with the processors of multiple other federated devices (e.g., operate as the federated device grid  1005 ) to portions of the repeat performance among multiple federate devices to be carried out at least partially in parallel. At  3652 , the processor may compare the regenerated result report to the result report previously generated in the previous performance of the job flow. The processor may then transmit the results of that comparison to the requesting device at  3654 . 
     However, if, at  3632 , the job flow of the previous performance referred to in the request does rely on the use of a neural network, then, in addition to retrieving objects associated with the other job flow at  3634 , the processor may check at  3660  whether the request was to provide the objects needed to enable an independent repeat of the previous performance. If so, then at  3662 , the processor may transmit the retrieved objects associated with that other job flow to the requesting device to enable aspects of the other job flow and/or one or more performances thereof to also be evaluated. However, if at  3660 , the request received was not to so provide the retrieved objects, but instead, was for one or more federated devices to repeat the previous performance of the job flow, then at  3670 , the processor may employ the objects retrieved at  3634  to perform the other job flow, and do so with the data set(s) associated with the previous performance of the job flow referred to in the request. At  3672 , the processor may compare the result report(s) generated by the performance of the other job flow to the corresponding result reports regenerated from the repetition at  3650  of the previous performance of the job flow referred to in the request. The processor may then transmit the results of that comparison to the requesting device at  3674 . 
       FIGS.  34 A and  34 B , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow  3700 . The logic flow  3700  may be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments described herein. More specifically, the logic flow  3700  may illustrate operations performed by the processor(s)  2550  in executing the control routine  2540 , and/or performed by other component(s) of at least one of the federated devices  2500 . 
     At  3710 , a processor of a federated device of a distributed processing system (e.g., at least one processor  2550  of one of the federated devices  2500  of the distributed processing system  2000 ) may receive a request from a requesting device, via a network (e.g., one of the reviewing devices  2800  via the network  2999 ) and through a portal provided by the processor, to repeat a previous performance a job flow with one or more data sets (e.g. one or more of the flow input data sets  2330 ) specified in the request by a job flow identifier and one or more data object identifiers (e.g., one of the job flow identifiers  2221 , and one or more of the data object identifiers  2331 ). As previously discussed, persons and/or entities involved either in consuming results of analyses or in reviewing past performances of analyses may operate a device to make a request for one or more federated devices to repeat a performance of a job flow. 
     At  3712 , in embodiments in which the federated device(s) that provide federated area(s) also control access thereto, the processor may perform a check of whether the request is from an authorized device and/or from an authorized person or entity (e.g., scholastic, governmental or business entity) operating the device that is an authorized user of at least one federated area, and/or has been granted a level of access that includes the authorization to make such requests. As has been discussed, the processor may require the receipt of one or more security credentials from devices from which requests are received. If, at  3712 , the processor determines that the request is not from a device and/or user authorized to make such a request, then the processor may transmit an indication of denial of the request to the device via the network at  3714 . 
     However, if at  3712 , the processor determines that the request for a repeat of a performance of the specified job flow with the specified one or more data sets is authorized, then at  3720 , the processor may the use the combination of the job flow identifier and the one or more data object identifiers to search within one or more federated areas to which the requesting device and/or a user of the requesting device has been granted access for an instance log associated with a previous performance of the job flow with the one or more data sets. 
     It should be noted that, as has been previously discussed, searches for objects to fulfill such a request received from a requesting device may be limited to the one or more federated areas to which that requesting device and/or a user operating the requesting device has been granted access (e.g., a particular private or intervening federated area, as well as any base federated area and/or any other intervening federated area interposed therebetween). Therefore, the retrieval of objects needed to repeat a previous performance of a job flow may necessarily be limited to such authorized federated area(s). 
     If, at  3730 , the processor determines, as a result of the search at  3720 , that there is no such instance log, then at  3732 , the processor may retrieve the job flow definition specified by the job flow identifier provided in the request (e.g., one of the job flow definitions  2220 ) from the one or more federated areas for which authorization to access has been granted to the requesting device and/or the user of the requesting device. At  3734 , the processor may then retrieve the most recent version of task routine for each task specified in the job flow definition by a flow task identifier (e.g., one or more of the task routines  2440 , each specified by a flow task identifiers  2241 ) from the one or more federated areas to which access has been granted. At  3736 , the processor may retrieve each of the one or more data sets specified by the one or more data object identifiers from the one or more federated areas to which access has been granted, and may then use the retrieved job flow definition, the retrieved newest versions of task routines, and the retrieved one or more data sets to perform the job flow as requested. At  3738 , the processor may transmit the results of the performance to the requesting device. As an alternative to (or in addition to) performing the job flow with the most recent versions of the task routines, the processor may transmit an indication to the requesting device that no record has been found of a previous performance in the one or more federated areas to which access has been granted. 
     However, if at  3730 , the processor successfully locates (during the search at  3720 ) such an instance log, then the processor may additionally determine at  3740  whether there is more than one such instance log, each of which is associated with a different performance of the job flow with the one or more data sets specified in the request. If, at  3740 , only one such instance log was located during the search at  3720 , then at  3750 , the processor may then retrieve the versions specified in the instance log of each of the task routines specified in the job flow definition for each task by a flow task identifier from the one or more federated areas to which access has been granted. At  3752 , the processor may retrieve each of the one or more data sets specified by the one or more data object identifiers from the one or more federated areas to which access has been granted, and may then use the retrieved job flow definition, the retrieved specified versions of task routines, and the retrieved one or more data sets to perform the job flow as requested. At  3754 , the processor may additionally retrieve the result report generated in the previous performance of the job flow from the one or more federated areas to which access has been granted, and may compare the retrieved result report to the new result report generated in the new performance of the job flow at  3756 . At  3758 , the processor may transmit the results of the comparison of result reports to the requesting device, and may transmit the new result report, itself, to the requesting device at  3758 . 
     However, if at  3740 , there is more than one such instance log located found during the search at  3720 , then the processor may transmit an indication of the available selection of the multiple previous performances that correspond to the multiple located instance logs to the requesting device at  3742  with a request that one of the multiple previous performances be selected as the one from which the instance log will be used. The processor may then await receipt of an indication of a selection of one of the multiple previous performances at  3744  before proceeding to retrieve specific versions of task routines at  3750 . 
       FIGS.  35 A,  35 B,  35 C and  35 D , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow  3800 . The logic flow  3800  may be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments described herein. More specifically, the logic flow  3800  may illustrate operations performed by the processor(s)  2550  in executing the control routine  2540 , and/or performed by other component(s) of at least one of the federated devices  2500 . 
     At  3810 , a processor of a federated device of a distributed processing system (e.g., at least one processor  2550  of one of the federated devices  2500  of the distributed processing system  2000 ) may receive a request from a device, via a network (e.g., one of the reviewing devices  2800  via the network  2999 ) and through a portal provided by the processor, to perform a job flow with one or more data sets (e.g. one or more of the flow input data sets  2330 ) specified in the request by a job flow identifier and one or more data object identifiers (e.g., one of the job flow identifiers  2221 , and one or more of the data object identifiers  2331 ). 
     At  3812 , in embodiments in which the federated device(s) that provide federated area(s) also control access thereto, the processor may perform a check of whether the request is from an authorized device and/or from an authorized person or entity (e.g., scholastic, governmental or business entity) operating the device that is an authorized user of at least one federated area, and/or has been granted a level of access that includes the authorization to make such requests. As has been discussed, the processor may require the receipt of one or more security credentials from devices from which requests are received. If, at  3812 , the processor determines that the request is not from a device and/or user authorized to make such a request, then the processor may transmit an indication of denial of the request to the device via the network at  3814 . 
     However, if at  3812 , the processor determines that the request for a performance of the specified job flow with the specified one or more data sets is authorized, then at  3820 , the processor may the use the job flow identifier provided in the request to retrieve the corresponding job flow definition (e.g., one of the job flow definitions  2220 ) from within one or more federated areas to which the requesting device and/or a user of the requesting device has been granted access. At  3822 , the processor may then retrieve the most recent version of task routine for each task specified in the job flow definition by a flow task identifier (e.g., one or more of the task routines  1440 , each specified by a flow task identifiers  1241 ) that is stored within the one or more federated areas to which the requesting device and/or a user of the requesting device has been granted access. 
     It should be noted that, as has been previously discussed, searches for objects to fulfill such a request received from a particular device may be limited to the one or more federated areas to which that requesting device and/or a user operating the requesting device has been granted access (e.g., a particular private or intervening federated area, as well as any base federated area and/or any other intervening federated area interposed therebetween). Therefore, the retrieval of objects needed to perform a specified job flow may necessarily be limited to such authorized federated area(s). 
     At  3824 , the processor may use the combination of the job flow identifier and the one or more data object identifiers to search for an instance log associated with a previous performance of the job flow with the one or more data sets within the one or more federated areas to which the requesting device and/or a user of the requesting device has been granted access. If, at  3830 , the processor determines (during the search at  3824 ) that there is no such instance log, then at  3832 , the processor may then check whether all of the retrieved newest versions of task routines are written in the same programming language. As has been discussed, there may be an expectation that, normally, task routines are all written in a single primary programming language that is normally supported for executing the executable instructions within task routines (e.g., the executable instructions  2447 ). However, as has also been discussed, it may be that there is a mixture of two or more programming languages (e.g., the primary programming language along with one or more secondary programming languages) among a set of task routines to be executed in performing the tasks of a job flow. 
     If, at  3832 , all of the retrieved most recent versions of task routines are written in the same programming language (e.g., the primary programming language), then at  3834 , the processor may retrieve each of the one or more data sets specified by the one or more data object identifiers from the one or more federated areas to which the requesting device and/or a user of the requesting device has been granted access, and may then use the retrieved job flow definition, the retrieved newest versions of task routines, and the retrieved one or more data sets to perform the job flow as requested. In so doing, the processor may be caused to use the same runtime interpreter or compiler to execute the executable instructions within all of the retrieved most recent versions of task routines. At  3838 , the processor may then transmit the results of the performance to the requesting device. However, if at  3832 , there is a mixture of programming languages is used among the retrieved most recent versions of task routines, then at  3836 , the processor may retrieve each of the one or more data sets specified by the one or more data object identifiers from the one or more federated areas to which the requesting device and/or a user of the requesting device has been granted access, and may then use the retrieved job flow definition, the retrieved newest versions of task routines, and the retrieved one or more data sets to perform the job flow, but may do so using a combination of multiple different runtime interpreters and/or compilers to execute the executable instructions within each of those task routines. At  3838 , the processor may then transmit the results of the performance to the requesting device. 
     However, if at  3830 , the processor successfully locates such an instance log (during the search at  3824 ), then the processor may additionally determine at  3840  whether there is more than one such instance log, each of which is associated with a different performance of the job flow with the one or more data sets specified in the request. If only one such instance log is located at  3840 , then at  3850 , the processor may then retrieve the versions specified in the instance log of each of the task routines for each task specified in the job flow definition by a flow task identifier from the one or more federated areas to which the requesting device and/or a user of the requesting device has been granted access. However, if at  3840 , there is more than one such instance log located, then the processor may analyze the multiple instance logs to identify and select the instance log from among the multiple instance logs that is associated with the most recent performance of the job flow at  3842 , before proceeding to retrieve specified versions task routines for each task of the job flow at  3850 . 
     At  3852 , for each task specified in the job flow definition, the processor may compare the retrieved version of the task routine identified in the instance log to the newest version stored within the one or more federated areas to which the requesting device and/or a user of the requesting device has been granted access to determine whether each of the retrieved task routines is the newest version. At  3860 , if each of the retrieved task routines is the newest version thereof, then there is no need to perform the job flow anew, as the most recent previous performance (or the only previous performance) already used the newest version of each task routine such that the result report generated is already the most up to date form of the result report, possible. Thus, at  3862 , the processor may retrieve the result report of that previous performance using the result report identifier specified by the instance log from the one or more federated areas to which the requesting device and/or a user of the requesting device has been granted access, and may then transmit the result report to the requesting device at  3734 . 
     However, if at  3860 , one or more of the task routines specified in the instance log and retrieved from the one or more federated areas to which the requesting device and/or a user of the requesting device has been granted access is not the newest version thereof, then at  3870 , the processor may parse the job flow set forth in the job flow definition to identify the earliest task within the job flow at which the version of the task routine so retrieved is not the newest version. At  3872 , the processor may then check whether all of the newest versions of task routines, starting with the task routine for the identified earliest task, proceeding through the task routines for each of the later tasks in the job flow, are written in the same programming language. 
     If, at  3872 , all such retrieved newest task routines are written in the same programming language, then at  3874 , starting at the identified earliest task, the processor may use the newest version of task routine for that task and for each later task in the job flow to perform that task and each of the later tasks, thereby taking advantage of the one or more earlier tasks of job flow at which the newest version of task routine was used in the most recent previous performance (or the only previous performance). In so doing, the processor may be caused to use the same runtime interpreter or compiler to execute the executable instructions within all of such retrieved most recent versions of task routines. The processor may then transmit the result report generated in such a partial performance of the job flow to the requesting device at  3878 . However, if at  3872 , there is a mixture of programming languages is used among these particular most recent versions of task routines, then at  3876 , the processor may use the newest version of task routine for that earliest identified task and for each later task in the job flow to perform that task and each of the later tasks, but may do so using a combination of multiple different runtime interpreters and/or compilers to execute the executable instructions within each of those task routines. The processor may then transmit the result report generated in such a partial performance of the job flow to the requesting device at  3878 . 
       FIGS.  36 A and  36 B , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow  4100 . The logic flow  4100  may be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments described herein. More specifically, the logic flow  4100  may illustrate operations performed by the processor(s)  2550  in executing the control routine  2540 , and/or performed by other component(s) of at least one of the federated devices  2500 . 
     At  4110 , a processor of a federated device of a distributed processing system (e.g., at least one processor  2550  of one of the federated devices  2500  of the distributed processing system  2000 ) may receive a request from another device, via a network (e.g., one of the source devices  2100 , or one of the reviewing devices  2800 , via the network  2999 ) and through a portal provided by the processor for access to other devices via the network, to store a data object (e.g., one of the flow input data objects  2330 , one of the mid-flow data objects  2370  or one of the result reports  277 ) within a particular federated area specified within the request (e.g., one of the federated areas  2566 ). Alternatively, at  4110 , the processor may receive the data object, via the network, and in a transfer associated with a synchronization relationship between a transfer area instantiated within the particular federated area and another transfer area instantiated within the other device, where the job flow definition is intended to be stored within the transfer area within the particular federated area. 
     At  4112 , in embodiments in which the federated device(s) that provide federated area(s) also control access thereto, the processor may perform a check of whether the request is from an authorized device and/or from an authorized person or entity (e.g., scholastic, governmental or business entity) operating the device that is an authorized user of the specified federated area, and/or has been granted a level of access that includes the authorization to make such requests. As has been discussed, the processor may require the receipt of one or more security credentials from devices from which requests are received. If, at  4112 , the processor determines that the request is not from a device and/or user authorized to make such a request, then the processor may transmit an indication of denial of the storage of the job flow definition to the device via the network at  4114 . 
     However, if at  4112 , the processor determines that the request to store a job flow definition within the specified federated area is authorized, then the processor may generate and assign a data object identifier for the data object at  4116 . 
     If, at  4120 , the size of the data object is not larger than a predetermined threshold size, then at  4122 , the processor may provide the data object to at least one storage device of a set of storage devices (e.g., one of the storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z ), or to at least one federated device of a set of federated devices being used to store objects (e.g., one of the federated devices  2500   a - x  and/or  2500   z ) to be stored within the federated area specified in the request as an undivided object within the storage space provided by a single one of the set of storage devices, or federated devices, for the specified federated area. As previously discussed, in some embodiments, the predetermined threshold size may be determined to be set to be equal to (or in some other way based on) the threshold size used by the set of storage devices to determine whether to divide a data object into multiple data object blocks. At  4124 , the processor may also store indications of aspects of the storage of the data object (e.g., its size, whether stored as an undivided object or in a distributed manner, whether stored in distributable form (if applicable), the identity of the federated area in which it is stored and/or the identity of each device in which at least a portion of it is stored). 
     However, if at  4120 , the size of the data object is larger than the predetermined threshold size, then at  4130 , the processor may check whether the data object is already in a distributable form. As previously discussed, a distributable form of a data object may entail having no distinct metadata data structure (e.g., the metadata  2338 ), and having the data items thereof organized into a single homogeneous data structure (e.g., the data items  2339  organized into a single homogeneous data structure  2335   d ). Further, in some of such embodiments, there may be a limited preselected set of types of homogeneous data structure from which the type of the single homogeneous data structure is to be selected. 
     If, at  4130 , the data object is already in such a distributable form, then the processor may provide the data object to the set of storage devices, or the set of federated devices being employed as a set of storage devices, to be divided up by that set of devices into multiple data object blocks (e.g., the data object blocks  2336   d ) that are then stored in a distributed manner as by being distributed among that set of devices such that each data object block is stored within a portion of one of the devices that provides a portion of a distributed file system that spans that set of devices and in which the specified federated area has been defined to also span that set of devices. Following such distributed storage, the processor may then store indications of aspects of the storage of the data object at  4124 . 
     However, if at  4130 , the data object is not already in such a distributable form, then the processor may convert the data object from the form in which it was originally received and into a distributable form at  4140 . At  4142 , the processor may store indications of one or more characteristics of the original form (e.g., the metadata  2338 ) for future use in re-creating the original form, before discarding the original form at  4144 , and then providing the distributable form to the set of storage devices, or of federated devices used as storage devices, at  4132 . Alternatively, and as previously discussed, the processor may provide both the original and distributable forms of the data object to the set of storage devices to enable both to be stored in a distributed manner within the specified federated area. Again, following such distributed storage, the processor may then store indications of aspects of the storage of the data object at  4124 . 
       FIGS.  37 A,  37 B and  37 C , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow  4200 . The logic flow  4200  may be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments described herein. More specifically, the logic flow  4200  may illustrate operations performed by the processor(s)  2550  or  2650  in executing one or more components of the control routine  2540 , and/or performed by other component(s) of at least one of the federated devices  2500  and/or at least one of the storage devices  2600 . 
     At  4210 , a processor of a federated device of a distributed processing system (e.g., at least one processor  2550  of one of the federated devices  2500  of the distributed processing system  2000 ) may receive a request from a device, via a network (e.g., one of the source devices  2100  or one of the reviewing devices  2800  via the network  2999 ) and through a portal provided by the processor, to perform a job flow with one or more data sets (e.g. one or more of the flow input data sets  2330 ) specified in the request by a job flow identifier and one or more data object identifiers (e.g., one of the job flow identifiers  2221 , and one or more of the data object identifiers  2331 ). 
     At  4212 , in embodiments in which the federated device(s) that provide federated area(s) also control access thereto, the processor may perform a check of whether the request is from an authorized device and/or from an authorized person or entity (e.g., scholastic, governmental or business entity) operating the device that is an authorized user of at least one federated area, and/or has been granted a level of access that includes the authorization to make such requests. As has been discussed, the processor may require the receipt of one or more security credentials from devices from which requests are received. If, at  4212 , the processor determines that the request is not from a device and/or user authorized to make such a request, then the processor may transmit an indication of denial of the request to the device via the network at  4214 . 
     However, if at  4212 , the processor determines that the request for a performance of the specified job flow with the specified one or more data sets is authorized, then at  4220 , the processor may the use the one or more data object identifiers to access each data object and/or access stored information concerning each data object to determine the size of each. 
     At  4222 , if none of the one or more specified data objects is larger than a predetermined threshold size, or if there are multiple data objects among the one of the one or more specified data object that are larger than the predetermined threshold size, then at  4230 , the processor may retrieve the specified one or more data objects, along with other objects needed to perform the job flow (e.g., a job flow definition  2220  and one or more task routines  2440 ) from a set of storage devices. At  4232 , the processor and/or other processing resources of the federated device and/or of one or more other federated devices may be used to perform the job flow, and the result of that performance may be transmitted to the requesting device at  4234 . 
     However, if at  4222 , there is a single data object among the one or more specified data objects that is larger than the predetermined threshold size, then at  4240 , the processor may retrieve the others of the one or more specified objects (if there are such others) from the set of storage devices in which they are stored, as well as other objects needed to perform the job flow from the set of storage devices. At  4242 , the processor may generate a container (e.g., the container  2565 ) to include the retrieved other data object(s) (if there are any), the other objects required for performing the job flow, and one or more executable routines (e.g., a version of the performance routine  2544 ) to be executed using processing resources of the set of storage devices to enable performing the job flow using the processing resources of the set of storage devices. 
     At  4244 , the processor may provide copies of the container to the set of storage devices such that each storage device thereamong is provided with a copy of the container. At  4246 , processor(s) of each storage device (e.g., the processor  2650  of a storage device  2600 ) of the set of storage devices that stores at least one data object block of the single large data set may execute the executable routine to then perform the job flow using the objects provided in the container, and using the locally stored data object block(s) of the single large data object as an input. As previously discussed, such performances by multiple storage devices within a set of storage devices may occur at least partially in parallel. 
     At  4250 , with the performances of the job flow over, the processor may retrieve, from each of the storage devices in the set of storage devices that performed the job flow, data object blocks of a result report generated as a result of the job flow performances. At  4252 , the processor may assemble the result report from the retrieved data object blocks, and may generate and assign a result report identifier for the result report at  4254 . The processor may then transmit the newly assembled result report to the requesting device at  4256 . 
     If, at  4260 , the size of the result report is not larger than a predetermined threshold size, then at  4262 , the processor may provide the result report to at least one storage device of the set of storage devices to be stored within a federated area as an undivided object within the storage space provided by a single one of the set of storage devices for that federated area. Again, as previously discussed, in some embodiments, the predetermined threshold size may be determined to be set to be equal to (or in some other way based on) the threshold size used by the set of storage devices to determine whether to divide a data object into multiple data object blocks. 
     However, if at  4260 , the size of the result report is larger than the predetermined threshold size, then at  4270 , the processor may check whether the result report is already in a distributable form. Again, a distributable form of a data object or result report may entail having no distinct metadata data structure (e.g., the metadata  2338 ), and having the data items thereof organized into a single homogeneous data structure (e.g., the data items  2339  organized into a single homogeneous data structure  2335   d ). Further, in some of such embodiments, there may be a limited preselected set of types of homogeneous data structure from which the type of the single homogeneous data structure is to be selected. 
     If, at  4270 , the result report is already in such a distributable form, then the processor may provide the result report to the set of storage devices to be divided up by the set of storage devices into multiple data object blocks (e.g., the data object blocks  7336   d ) that are then stored in a distributed manner as by being distributed among the set of storage devices such that each data object block of the result report is stored within a portion of one of the storage devices that provides a portion of a distributed file system that spans multiple storage devices and in which a federated area has been defined to also span the multiple storage devices. 
     However, if at  4270 , the result report is not already in such a distributable form, then the processor may convert the result report from its original form and into a distributed form at  4280 , before providing the distributable form to the set of storage devices at  4272 . 
       FIGS.  38 A,  38 B and  38 C , together, illustrate an example embodiment of a logic flow  4300 . The logic flow  4300  may be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments described herein. More specifically, the logic flow  4300  may illustrate operations performed by the processor(s)  2550  or  2650  in executing one or more components of the control routine  2540 , and/or performed by other component(s) of at least one of the federated devices  2500  and/or at least one of the storage devices  2600 . 
     At  4310 , a processor of a federated device of a distributed processing system (e.g., at least one processor  2550  of one of the federated devices  2500  of the distributed processing system  2000 ) may receive a request from a device, via a network (e.g., one of the source devices  2100  or one of the reviewing devices  2800  via the network  2999 ) and through a portal provided by the processor, to perform a one or more tasks specified in the request (e.g., with each task specified by its corresponding flow task identifier  2241 ), and with one or more data objects specified in the request as inputs to each task (e.g. with each of one or more data objects  2330 ,  2370  and/or  2770  to be used as inputs specified in the request as inputs for each task specified using corresponding data object identifiers  2331 ,  2371  and/or  2771 , respectively). 
     At  4312 , in embodiments in which the federated device(s) that provide federated area(s) also control access thereto, the processor may perform a check of whether the request is from an authorized device and/or from an authorized person or entity (e.g., scholastic, governmental or business entity) operating the device that is an authorized user of at least one federated area, and/or has been granted a level of access that includes the authorization to make such requests. As has been discussed, the processor may require the receipt of one or more security credentials from devices from which requests are received. If, at  4312 , the processor determines that the request is not from a device and/or user authorized to make such a request, then the processor may transmit an indication of denial of the request to the device via the network at  4314 . 
     However, if at  4312 , the processor determines that the request for a performance of the specified job flow with the specified one or more data sets is authorized, then at  4320 , the processor may check whether there area any data objects embedded in the request. As has been discussed, it may be that the request is formatted in a manner conforming to at least one version of the MPI specification to at least the degree that it may embed one or more of the data objects that may be used as an input to at least one of the specified tasks as streaming data. 
     If, at  4320 , there are no data objects embedded within the request, then at  4340 , the processor may use the flow task identifiers (or whatever other type of identifier is used in the request for each task) to retrieve the most recent version of task routine for each task specified in the request. As has been discussed, in retrieving task routines, the processor may limit the federated areas from which it so retrieves task routines to those to which access is authorized. 
     At  4341 , the processor may identify dependencies among the tasks specified in request. As previously discussed, as part of identifying dependencies, the processor may analyze each instance of the specification of a data object as an input to one of the specified tasks and/or as an output from one of the specified tasks to identify any instances in which a dependency exists among two or specified tasks as a result of a data object that is output by one of the specified tasks being used as an input to another of the specified tasks. Alternatively or additionally, the processor may analyze the input interfaces and output interfaces of each of the retrieved task routines to identify each instance of an output interface of one task routine that matches an input interface of another task routine, which may be an indication of a dependency therebetween. As also previously discussed, within each task routine, there may be comments that describe its input and/or output interfaces in addition to the executable instructions that implement each of those interfaces, and the processor may analyze either or both of such comments (if present) and such executable instructions. 
     Regardless of the exact manner in which the processor identifies dependencies, if, at  4343 , a dependency error is identified, then the processor may transmit an indication of denial of the request to the requesting device at  4345 . By way of example, it may be that the processor identifies an instance of a data object being specified as both an input to and an output of the same task, or of the same set of tasks, such that an impossible situation of a data object being needed as an input before it can possibly be created as an output is being specified in the request. Alternatively or additionally, where the processor has also analyzed interfaces of the task routines, it may be that an object is specified as an output of one task and an input to another task where the output interface for that output of that one task is incompatible with the input interface for that input of the other task. 
     However, if no dependency error exists at  4343 , at  4350 , the processor may employ the earlier derived dependencies to derive an order of performance of the tasks as part of generating a new job flow for the performance of the set of tasks of the request, and may check whether there are any opportunities for parallelism in the performance of the tasks at  4351 . If no such opportunities for parallelism exist, then at  4353 , the processor may generate a job flow definition for the performance of the set of tasks specified in the request that specifies an entirely serial performance of those specified tasks. However, if there is such an opportunity for parallelism at  4351 , then at  4354 , the processor may generate the job flow definition to specify each of the one or more opportunities for the parallel performance of two or more of those specified tasks. Regardless of whether an entirely serial job flow definition is generated at  4353  or a job flow definition that specifies one or more opportunities for parallelism is generated at  4354 , the resulting job flow definition may also be generated by the processor to specify aspects of input and/or output interfaces for each task by which data is received and/or output by each. 
     At  4356 , the processor may generate a job flow identifier (e.g., a job flow identifier  2221 ) for the new job flow, and may incorporate the new job flow identifier  2221  into the newly generated job flow definition. At  4358 , the processor may store the job flow definition generated at either  4153  or  4154  within a federated area. At  4360 , the processor may then perform the job flow. In so doing, the processor may attempt to identify opportunities for parallelizing the performance of individual tasks that may be afforded by the an object specified as an input to a task having been stored in distributed form such that multiple instances of that task may be performed at least partially in parallel with each block of that object. 
     However, if at  4320 , there are one or more data objects embedded within the request, then at  4322 , then the processor may generate and assign a data object identifier for each of the one or more embedded data objects at  4322 . 
     At  4330 , the processor may check if there are any of the one or more embedded data objects that are smaller than a predetermined threshold size. If there are, then at  4331 , the processor may provide each of those smaller data objects to at least one storage device of a set of storage devices (e.g., one of the storage devices  2600   a - x  and/or  2600   z ), or to at least one federated device of a set of federated devices being used to store objects (e.g., one of the federated devices  2500   a - x  and/or  2500   z ), to be stored within a federated area as an undivided object within the storage space provided by a single one of those devices. As previously discussed, in some embodiments, the predetermined threshold size may be determined to be set to be equal to (or in some other way based on) the threshold size used by a set of storage devices, or a set of federated devices being used to store objects, to determine whether to divide a data object into multiple data object blocks. 
     At  4332 , the processor may check if there are any of the one or more embedded data objects that are larger than the predetermined threshold size, and that are already in distributable form. As previously discussed, a distributable form of a data object may entail having no distinct metadata data structure (e.g., the metadata  2338 ), and having the data items thereof organized into a single homogeneous data structure (e.g., the data items  2339  organized into a single homogeneous data structure  2335   d ). Further, in some of such embodiments, there may be a limited preselected set of types of homogeneous data structure from which the type of the single homogeneous data structure is to be selected. If there are any such data objects at  4332 , then at  4333 , then the processor may provide each such data object to the set of storage devices, or to the set of federated devices being employed as a set of storage devices, to be divided up by that set of devices into multiple data object blocks (e.g., the data object blocks  2336   d  of a flow input data object  2330 ) that are then stored in a distributed manner as by being distributed among that set of devices such that each data object block is stored within a portion of one of the devices that provides a portion of a distributed file system that spans that set of devices and in which the specified federated area has been defined to also span that set of devices. 
     At  4334 , the processor may check if there are any of the one or more embedded data objects that are larger than the predetermined threshold size, and that are not already in distributable form. If there are, then at  4335 , the processor may convert each such data object from its non-distributable form and into a distributable form, before providing each such object in distributable form to the set of storage devices, or to the set of federated devices being employed as a set of storage devices, to be divided up by that set of devices into multiple data object blocks that are then stored in a distributed manner. At  4336 , the processor may store indications of one or more characteristics of the original form (e.g., the metadata  2338 ) of each such object for future use in re-creating their original forms, before discarding their original forms at  4337 . Alternatively, and as previously discussed, the processor may provide both the original and distributable forms of each such data object to the set of devices to enable both to be stored in a distributed manner. 
     At  4338 , the processor may also store indications of aspects of the storage of each data object that was received as embedded in the request (e.g., its size, whether stored as an undivided object or in a distributed manner, whether stored in distributable form (if applicable), the identity of the federated area in which it is stored and/or the identity of each device in which at least a portion of it is stored). Following the storage of such information for each such object, the processor may then proceed to retrieving the most recent version of task routine to perform each specified task at  4340 . 
     In various embodiments, each of the processors  2150 ,  2550  and  2850  may include any of a wide variety of commercially available processors. Further, one or more of these processors may include multiple processors, a multi-threaded processor, a multi-core processor (whether the multiple cores coexist on the same or separate dies), and/or a multi-processor architecture of some other variety by which multiple physically separate processors are linked. 
     However, in a specific embodiment, the processor  2550  of each of the one or more federated devices  1500  may be selected to efficiently perform the analysis of multiple instances of job flows at least partially in parallel. By way of example, the processor  2550  may incorporate a single-instruction multiple-data (SIMD) architecture, may incorporate multiple processing pipelines, and/or may incorporate the ability to support multiple simultaneous threads of execution per processing pipeline. Alternatively or additionally by way of example, the processor  1550  may incorporate multi-threaded capabilities and/or multiple processor cores to enable parallel performances of the tasks of more than job flow. 
     In various embodiments, each of the control routines  2140 ,  2540  and  2840 , including the components of which each is composed, may be selected to be operative on whatever type of processor or processors that are selected to implement applicable ones of the processors  2150 ,  2550  and/or  2850  within each one of the devices  2100 ,  2500  and/or  2800 , respectively. In various embodiments, each of these routines may include one or more of an operating system, device drivers and/or application-level routines (e.g., so-called “software suites” provided on disc media, “applets” obtained from a remote server, etc.). Where an operating system is included, the operating system may be any of a variety of available operating systems appropriate for the processors  2150 ,  2550  and/or  2850 . Where one or more device drivers are included, those device drivers may provide support for any of a variety of other components, whether hardware or software components, of the devices  2100 ,  2500  and/or  2800 . 
     In various embodiments, each of the storages  2160 ,  2560  and  2860  may be based on any of a wide variety of information storage technologies, including volatile technologies requiring the uninterrupted provision of electric power, and/or including technologies entailing the use of machine-readable storage media that may or may not be removable. Thus, each of these storages may include any of a wide variety of types (or combination of types) of storage device, including without limitation, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDR-DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymer memory (e.g., ferroelectric polymer memory), ovonic memory, phase change or ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) memory, magnetic or optical cards, one or more individual ferromagnetic disk drives, non-volatile storage class memory, or a plurality of storage devices organized into one or more arrays (e.g., multiple ferromagnetic disk drives organized into a Redundant Array of Independent Disks array, or RAID array). It should be noted that although each of these storages is depicted as a single block, one or more of these may include multiple storage devices that may be based on differing storage technologies. Thus, for example, one or more of each of these depicted storages may represent a combination of an optical drive or flash memory card reader by which programs and/or data may be stored and conveyed on some form of machine-readable storage media, a ferromagnetic disk drive to store programs and/or data locally for a relatively extended period, and one or more volatile solid state memory devices enabling relatively quick access to programs and/or data (e.g., SRAM or DRAM). It should also be noted that each of these storages may be made up of multiple storage components based on identical storage technology, but which may be maintained separately as a result of specialization in use (e.g., some DRAM devices employed as a main storage while other DRAM devices employed as a distinct frame buffer of a graphics controller). 
     However, in a specific embodiment, the storage  2560  in embodiments in which the one or more of the federated devices  2500  provide federated spaces  2566 , or the storage devices  2600  in embodiments in which the one or more storage devices  2600  provide federated spaces  2566 , may be implemented with a redundant array of independent discs (RAID) of a RAID level selected to provide fault tolerance to objects stored within the federated spaces  2566 . 
     In various embodiments, each of the input devices  2110  and  2810  may each be any of a variety of types of input device that may each employ any of a wide variety of input detection and/or reception technologies. Examples of such input devices include, and are not limited to, microphones, remote controls, stylus pens, card readers, finger print readers, virtual reality interaction gloves, graphical input tablets, joysticks, keyboards, retina scanners, the touch input components of touch screens, trackballs, environmental sensors, and/or either cameras or camera arrays to monitor movement of persons to accept commands and/or data provided by those persons via gestures and/or facial expressions. 
     In various embodiments, each of the displays  2180  and  2880  may each be any of a variety of types of display device that may each employ any of a wide variety of visual presentation technologies. Examples of such a display device includes, and is not limited to, a cathode-ray tube (CRT), an electroluminescent (EL) panel, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a gas plasma display, etc. In some embodiments, the displays  2180  and/or  2880  may each be a touchscreen display such that the input devices  2110  and/or  2810 , respectively, may be incorporated therein as touch-sensitive components thereof. 
     In various embodiments, each of the network interfaces  2190 ,  2590  and  2890  may employ any of a wide variety of communications technologies enabling these devices to be coupled to other devices as has been described. Each of these interfaces includes circuitry providing at least some of the requisite functionality to enable such coupling. However, each of these interfaces may also be at least partially implemented with sequences of instructions executed by corresponding ones of the processors (e.g., to implement a protocol stack or other features). Where electrically and/or optically conductive cabling is employed, these interfaces may employ timings and/or protocols conforming to any of a variety of industry standards, including without limitation, RS-232C, RS-422, USB, Ethernet (IEEE-802.3) or IEEE-1394. Where the use of wireless transmissions is entailed, these interfaces may employ timings and/or protocols conforming to any of a variety of industry standards, including without limitation, IEEE 802.11a, 802.11ad, 802.11ah, 802.11ax, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.16, 802.20 (commonly referred to as “Mobile Broadband Wireless Access”); Bluetooth; ZigBee; or a cellular radiotelephone service such as GSM with General Packet Radio Service (GSM/GPRS), CDMA/1×RTT, Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE), Evolution Data Only/Optimized (EV-DO), Evolution For Data and Voice (EV-DV), High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), 4G LTE, 5G, etc. 
     However, in a specific embodiment, one or more of the network interfaces  2190 ,  2590  and/or  2890  may be implemented with multiple copper-based or fiber-optic based network interface ports to provide redundant and/or parallel pathways in exchanging one or more of the data sets  2330  and/or  2370 . 
     In various embodiments, the division of processing and/or storage resources among the federated devices  1500 , and/or the API architectures employed to support communications between the federated devices and other devices may be configured to and/or selected to conform to any of a variety of standards for distributed processing, including without limitation, IEEE P2413, AllJoyn, IoTivity, etc. By way of example, a subset of API and/or other architectural features of one or more of such standards may be employed to implement the relatively minimal degree of coordination described herein to provide greater efficiency in parallelizing processing of data, while minimizing exchanges of coordinating information that may lead to undesired instances of serialization among processes. However, it should be noted that the parallelization of storage, retrieval and/or processing of portions of the data sets  2330  and/or  2370  are not dependent on, nor constrained by, existing API architectures and/or supporting communications protocols. More broadly, there is nothing in the manner in which the data sets  2330  and/or  2370  may be organized in storage, transmission and/or distribution via the network  2999  that is bound to existing API architectures or protocols. 
     Some systems may use Hadoop, an open-source framework for storing and analyzing big data in a distributed computing environment. Some systems may use cloud computing, which can enable ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. Some grid systems may be implemented as a multi-node Hadoop® cluster, as understood by a person of skill in the art. Apache™ Hadoop® is an open-source software framework for distributed computing.