Patent ID: 7003777

Claim:
A system for implementing a modular software system in a distributed computing environment, the distributed computing environment having a plurality of networked processing resources, comprising: a first and a second general runtime component which are capable of communicating with each other; the first and second general runtime components each comprising a plurality of sockets for connecting to a lower level component and managing interactions between the lower level components; the first and second general runtime components each capable of operating on one of the plurality of networked processing resources; a first and a second container component for engaging one of the plurality of sockets of one of the general runtime components; the first container component implements a first predetermined functionality and comprises a first container coordinator for allowing the second container component to communicate with the first container component through their respective general runtime components; and a first and second functional component within one of the container components; the first functional component performs a second predetermined functionality and comprises a first functional coordinator for allowing the second functional component to communicate with the first functional component.