<s>
The	O
Colony	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
is	O
an	O
open	B-Application
source	I-Application
plugin	B-Application
framework	B-Architecture
specification	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Implementations	O
of	O
the	O
specification	O
offer	O
a	O
runtime	O
component	O
model	O
,	O
that	O
allows	O
for	O
plugins	B-Application
to	O
be	O
installed	O
,	O
started	O
,	O
stopped	O
,	O
updated	O
and	O
uninstalled	O
without	O
requiring	O
the	O
application	O
container	O
to	O
be	O
stopped	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
specification	O
relies	O
heavily	O
on	O
the	O
Inversion	B-Language
of	I-Language
control	I-Language
principle	O
,	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
make	O
it	O
easier	O
for	O
application	B-Architecture
components	I-Architecture
to	O
discover	O
and	O
interact	O
with	O
each	O
other	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Colony	O
aims	O
to	O
eliminate	O
the	O
complexity	O
typically	O
associated	O
with	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
modular	B-Architecture
applications	O
,	O
through	O
a	O
simplified	O
unified	O
model	O
for	O
component	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Practical	O
applications	O
can	O
range	O
from	O
modular	B-Architecture
enterprise	O
software	O
to	O
application	O
mashing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Colony	O
gathers	O
inspiration	O
from	O
other	O
modularity	B-Architecture
solutions	O
such	O
as	O
OSGi	B-Application
for	O
the	O
Java	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
and	O
Managed	O
Extensibility	O
Framework	B-Architecture
(	O
MEF	O
)	O
for	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
includes	O
use	O
cases	O
typically	O
associated	O
with	O
OSGi	B-Application
,	O
such	O
as	O
modularized	O
application	O
with	O
a	O
narrow	O
core	O
and	O
large	O
extensibility	O
possibilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
also	O
includes	O
use	O
cases	O
to	O
which	O
MEF	O
caters	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
adding	O
modularity	B-Architecture
to	O
an	O
existing	O
application	O
,	O
without	O
the	O
developer	O
having	O
to	O
create	O
its	O
own	O
plugin	B-Application
infrastructure	O
from	O
scratch	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Plugin	B-Application
Manager	O
:	O
core	O
facility	O
that	O
manages	O
the	O
plugin	B-Application
lifecycle	O
and	O
dependency	B-Library
injection	I-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
Plugin	B-Application
:	O
an	O
isolated	O
piece	O
of	O
code	O
and	O
associated	O
resources	O
that	O
makes	O
sense	O
by	O
itself	O
or	O
when	O
working	O
together	O
with	O
other	O
plugins	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Capability	O
:	O
defines	O
what	O
a	O
plugin	B-Application
is	O
able	O
to	O
do	O
,	O
so	O
that	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
matched	O
with	O
other	O
plugins	B-Application
that	O
desire	O
its	O
abilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Dependency	O
:	O
defines	O
that	O
a	O
plugin	B-Application
requires	O
another	O
plugin	B-Application
to	O
function	O
and	O
is	O
worthless	O
without	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Event	O
:	O
a	O
message	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
broadcast	O
by	O
a	O
plugin	B-Application
and	O
listened	O
by	O
whichever	O
plugin	B-Application
wants	O
to	O
receive	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bundle	O
:	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
related	O
plugins	B-Application
,	O
intended	O
to	O
operate	O
together	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
plugin	B-Application
lifecycle	O
includes	O
loading	O
and	O
unloading	O
its	O
resources	O
,	O
injecting	O
it	O
into	O
others	O
as	O
a	O
capability	O
or	O
dependency	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
having	O
capabilities	O
and/or	O
dependencies	O
injected	O
into	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
framework	B-Architecture
proposes	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
Viral	O
Distribution	B-Architecture
where	O
computation	O
can	O
be	O
transparently	O
distributed	O
to	O
any	O
number	O
of	O
nodes	O
,	O
by	O
having	O
each	O
node	O
run	O
a	O
Colony	O
instance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
concept	O
takes	O
advantage	O
of	O
the	O
modularity	B-Architecture
approach	O
,	O
by	O
using	O
the	O
plugin	B-Application
as	O
the	O
unit	O
to	O
be	O
transferred	O
between	O
nodes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
using	O
Zeroconf	B-Application
techniques	O
such	O
as	O
Bonjour	B-Application
through	O
Colony	O
Bonjour	B-Application
Plugin	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Viral	O
distribution	B-Architecture
,	O
as	O
per	O
the	O
Colony	O
interpretation	O
,	O
would	O
mean	O
that	O
a	O
configured	O
Colony	O
instance	O
could	O
make	O
its	O
computing	O
power	O
available	O
to	O
a	O
Colony	O
managed	O
computing	O
grid	O
,	O
by	O
announcing	O
its	O
specifications	O
,	O
after	O
which	O
it	O
would	O
receive	O
work	O
units	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
plugins	B-Application
,	O
i.e.	O
,	O
mobile	O
code	O
for	O
execution	O
on	O
the	O
instance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
set	O
up	O
a	O
new	O
Colony	O
instance	O
,	O
and	O
enabling	O
viral	O
distribution	B-Architecture
support	O
,	O
would	O
require	O
an	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
,	O
basic	O
Colony	O
dependencies	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
a	O
virtual	O
machine	O
for	O
the	O
Colony	O
implementation	O
language	O
of	O
choice	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
framework	B-Architecture
manager	O
itself	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Adding	O
the	O
basic	O
bundles	O
required	O
for	O
accessing	O
and	O
downloading	O
from	O
a	O
remote	O
plugin	B-Application
repository	O
to	O
the	O
instance	O
would	O
complete	O
the	O
bootstrap	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
node	O
would	O
then	O
announce	O
its	O
availability	O
to	O
the	O
Distribution	B-Architecture
Server	O
Plugin	B-Application
,	O
and	O
could	O
begin	O
receiving	O
and	O
processing	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Colony	B-Application
framework	I-Application
includes	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
application	B-Architecture
components	I-Architecture
for	O
various	O
functions	O
,	O
from	O
domain-specific	O
sub-frameworks	O
to	O
providers	O
for	O
common	O
protocols	O
and	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Notable	O
components	O
include	O
a	O
complete	O
web	B-Application
application	I-Application
framework	I-Application
,	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
MVC	O
architecture	O
pattern	O
,	O
similar	O
to	O
Ruby	B-Application
on	I-Application
Rails	I-Application
and	O
Django	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
web	O
stack	O
is	O
supported	O
by	O
a	O
modular	B-Architecture
HTTP	B-Protocol
server	O
implementation	O
developed	O
from	O
the	O
ground	O
up	O
under	O
the	O
Colony	O
design	O
philosophy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
practice	O
this	O
implies	O
that	O
even	O
core	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
server	O
components	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
filesystem	B-Application
access	O
and	O
socket	B-Protocol
interfaces	O
,	O
are	O
provided	O
as	O
modules	B-Architecture
and	O
can	O
be	O
hotswapped	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
web	O
MVC	O
plugin	B-Application
also	O
uses	O
the	O
modular	B-Architecture
ORM	B-General_Concept
entity	O
manager	O
plugin	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
managing	O
distribution	B-Architecture
,	O
the	O
distribution	B-Architecture
manager	O
component	O
acts	O
as	O
a	O
hub	O
for	O
the	O
various	O
distribution	B-Architecture
plugins	B-Application
that	O
implement	O
's	O
Colony	O
's	O
viral	O
distribution	B-Architecture
concept	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Among	O
other	O
available	O
components	O
are	O
a	O
build	B-Application
automation	I-Application
component	O
(	O
functionally	O
comparable	O
to	O
Maven	B-Language
)	O
;	O
an	O
extensible	O
revision	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
facade	O
with	O
extensions	O
available	O
for	O
Subversion	B-Application
,	O
Bazaar	B-Protocol
and	O
Mercurial	B-Protocol
;	O
a	O
self-contained	O
Wiki	B-Protocol
application	I-Protocol
,	O
leveraging	O
the	O
Revision	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
plugins	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
integration	O
with	O
other	O
technologies	O
,	O
Colony	O
provides	O
servers	O
and	O
clients	O
for	O
common	O
protocols	O
such	O
as	O
SMTP	B-Protocol
,	O
BitTorrent	B-Protocol
,	O
DNS	B-Protocol
,	O
IRC	B-Protocol
,	O
POP	B-Protocol
,	O
Telnet	B-Protocol
,	O
XMPP	B-Protocol
,	O
LDAP	B-Protocol
as	O
well	O
as	O
support	O
for	O
Bonjour	B-Application
(	O
Apple	O
Inc.	O
'	O
s	O
implementation	O
of	O
Zeroconf	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
niche	O
components	O
are	O
also	O
included	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
clients	O
for	O
the	O
Twitter	B-Application
API	O
and	O
Apple	B-Operating_System
Push	I-Operating_System
Notification	I-Operating_System
Service	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
